The Nighlight Zone
by Razor Raven
Summary: The gang has a rather bizarre adventure coming up, in another dimension...contains mild violence and definate AAML, with familiar faces...Chapter 5 is up!
1. It started out normal...

Nighlight Zone  
  
Characters:  
  
Ash, Misty, Brock, Tracey, Gary, Mewtwo, Richie, Casey, Todd, Duplica, Jeannette, Throttle, Bandit, Mrs. Ketchum, Pikachu, Togepi, Beyonder, Orcus, The Vile 13  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, I wish I did, but I don't, I do own the Vile 13, Orcus however, is not mine, he is from Dungeons & Dragons, it took and enormous bribe and a pudgey maid of honor to convince the Black Prince to help with my fic by being the villian, the Raven is me, and the Beyonder is my loyal servant, don't use him, or Bandit or Throttle, either. They are mine  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
It was a quite day in Pallet Town, although it wouldn't be soon, in less than an hour in fact. Inside a particular house there were 4 "PIKA!" "TOGI!" sorry, 6 residents, heh-heh, 4 shared one bedroom, Ash Ketchum, Pallet Town's finest trainer, Misty Waterflower, Ash's best human friend, born in Cerulean City, Pikachu, Ash's first Pokemon and his best friend, Togepi, a baby egg Pokemon who believes Misty is it's mother  
At the moment, Misty was peering down from the top bunk, giving Ash the same fond, loving look she had given him every morning before he woke up, they had known each other for 3 years, and although it had been rocky at first, they had after about a month, become friends, Misty had some time after that developed feelings for Ash, feelings she never admitted to anyone except Togepi, Misty's routine was the same, give Ash a fond look, swing down from her bed, touch Ash's cheek, wake him up. This morning would be different.  
Misty swung her feet over the side of the bed, unaware that Ash had just woken up. "Hey! Get your dopey feet out of my face!" Furious, Misty pulled her feet back up and leaned down until her face was an inch from Ash's "My feet are NOT dopey, and they're NOT in your face!" Ash was madder than before. "Get your dopey face out of my face!" Ash was certainly cranky this morning. "Ooh, just for that Ash Ketchum!" Misty snapped, she grabbed her towel and dashed to the bathroom, Ash was on her heels. "GET BACK HERE MISTY, I'M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET!!" Misty ducked into the bathroom and slammed the door, Ash slammed his face into the door, that hurt. "MISTY!!" Ash yelled, grabbing the doorknob. "OPEN THIS DOOR OR THEY'LL NEVER FIND YOUR REMAINS!!" "Catch me!" Misty taunted as she began her morning preening, which Ash knew would take awhile, to say the least  
"Scrawny!"  
"Twerp!"  
"Perfume Breath!"  
"Peabrain!"  
Downstairs in the kitchen, Brock was pouring Mrs. Delia Ketchum, Ash's very loving mother, a cup of coffee, her room was on the top floor, Ash & Misty's in the middle, Brock's on the ground floor. Mrs. Ketchum looked up at the ceiling as she heard Ash & Misty screaming at each other, Brock grinned, "Ash & Misty are awake" he observed. Mrs. Ketchum looked worried "Doesn't it worry you when they fight like that?" she asked, Brock shook his head "They do this all the time, it's their way of showing deep, intimate friendship, despite their bickering, they are best friends." Mrs. Ketchum sighed, she knew not to press the issue, last time she had begged Brock to stop the fighting and he simply replied "That'd be like trying to stop the tide, just let them fight it out, they'll run out of insults soon."  
Meanwhile, back upstairs...  
Ash was muttering several words under his breath that he never would have dared to say in front of his mother, Pikachu & Togepi, awakened by the fighting, headed to the bathroom where Ash was wrestling with the doorknob, on the other side, they could hear Misty singing, this only seemed to enrage Ash further, Pikachu was startled when he heard what Ash was saying (Remember, he's got GREAT hearing) ::Ash! You should be a gentlemen and let the lady go first!:: Pikachu scolded. "I'm no gentlemen, and Misty's no lady!" Ash retorted, he turned around and started to slam his shoulder into the door, but at that moment, Misty opened it, Ash fell to the floor and Misty, in her bathrobe, stepped over him. "Hi, Pikachu, good morning Togepi!" ::Morning Misty!/Mommy!:: Pikachu and Togepi said respectively. "Bathroom's all yours, Ash! By the way, good morning!" Misty said, sounding cheerful, Ash looked up to retort, than paused, Misty had her hair down, he loved it when she did that, it was her personality he was in love with, but that only seemed to enhance her outer beauty. "Morning Misty." Ash said, and stepped into the bathroom. Misty headed back to the room she and Ash shared to change, Pikachu and Togepi went downstairs, where Brock was making pancakes, sausages, eggs, and bacon, Pikachu naturally had all of his smothered in ketchup.  
In the bathroom, Ash combed his hair and took care of some other business, as he sat there, he thought "I suppose I overreacted earlier, I oughtta apologize to Misty." He further devined his feelings. "God, how can I ever admit to Misty how I really feel about her? Why does love have such a strong hold on people? Why can't I ever keep my temper with Misty? Why am I talking to myself in the bathroom?" He left the bathroom and casually headed downstairs to the kitchen where he found the others enjoying breakfast, although Pikachu seemed completely absorbed in his bottle of ketchup. "Morning, honey, did you sleep well?" "I slept fine, than I woke up to Misty's feet in my face, speaking of which, sorry I yelled like that Misty, I was surprised and trying to save face." Misty shook her head. "You couldn't save THAT face if your life depended on it" Ash frowned and thought of something really mean to say, than decided not to say it, Misty had saved his life before, you cut a person a lot of slack when they've saved your life. Instead he decided upon. "I'm in too good a mood to get worked up now, maybe later, huh?" "Hows 1:30?" "Sounds good." "Cool, now that we're through being made at each other for the morning, have some egg- oh, Pikachu ate them all." ::I got the recipe from Mimi Tachigawa from Digimon:: Pikachu said. (Ash sweatdrops and translates the message, everybody else sweatdrops except Togepi)  
The peaceful morning was again interrupted as a man came dashing into the kitchen, he was burly, 6.6 at the least, and had to weigh 260 at least, he was followed closely by a smaller man, this one was about 6 feet, and didn't look to weigh more than 210, the smaller guy slammed into the larger guy, knocked him to the floor, and put him in a painful looking arm drag. Two other guys charged into the room, both carrying plasma rifles, they quickly apprehended the larger man, putting him in powerful looking restraints. The big guy unleashed a flurry of cuss words, his smaller assailant cuffed him, somewhat gently, in the mouth and said. "Watch the language, there are children present." He smiled in greeting at Ash and his company and the two plasma rifle carriers marched out the captive, informing him of his rights. "Morning everyone!" The dude was dressed in black from neck to toe, a black sleeveless turtleneck under a black duster coat, black sweatpants, a Black Martial Arts belt, and black boots, complete with black gloves and a black headband. "Hey Bandit!" Ash, Misty, & Brock said together, "Good morning, Robert!" Mrs. Ketchum said, smiling. ::Wassup!:: Pikachu and Togepi said together. (Misty sweatdrops) "Togepi, where did you learn to talk like that!?" Misty demanded. ::From Uncle Pika!:: (Pikachu puts his paw behind his head) ::Heh-Heh::  
"Join us! There's plenty!" Brock invited, waving his hand at the table, Bandit smiled "Love to, but I've got this craving for ketchup, and I don't think Pikachu would approve." ::Nobody touches my ketchup but me!:: Pikachu agreed  
"At least talk to us!" Ash pleaded "We haven't seen you since you cracked that Pokemon smuggling ring!" Bandit sat down and explained. "We're just picking up some stragglers, That's the 5th one today, the 16th this week! The Leader of Team Rocket sure was unhappy!" Everyone laughed, Bandit was the second in command officer of the Dark Network, a mysterious Law Enforcement agency, everyone agreed they had strange methods, but also agreed Bandit had done more for the company than any other member, he was also the world's best known Pokemon Grand Master, having already made mincemeat out of the Elite 4 and also having won every known league.  
"So, did you break your record?" Misty asked, sipping her coffee. Bandit shook his head. "No, that one was a fast runner, took me 5 minutes." "5 times more than your record, that Kanob guy only took a minute." Ash said as he wrestled Pikachu for the ketchup, which proved to be a mistake. Bandit nodded "He was the only one who stood to fight, everyone else ran." Misty grinned slyly and added "The fact that Bandit sliced Kanob's hand off with that Katana of his may have had something to do with Kanob's surrender, and that no one wants to fight." Bandit took a drink from a Mountain Dew no one had seen him produce and replied "That was an accident, he threw sand in my face, I only meant to disarm him."  
  
"You DID disarm him, or should I say, de-handed him!" Ash joked. Bandit glared at him playfully. "Don't be a smart aleck, Ash, it's not good for your health." Ash laughed "Don't I know it, I get that all the time from Misty, (Misty smacks him) Ow!" "Children, children, no violence at the breakfast table." Mrs. Ketchum said calmly, she was used to this, Misty had done it before, but neither she nor Ash ever indicated a dent in their friendship, in fact, according to Brock, this was their way of being affectionate.  
"All the same, that seemed to intimidate the rest of them into running," Brock said "knowing their fiercest warrior was so easily "disarmed" hurt their moral." Bandit sighed and said "I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I? I told you, I was swinging the blade toward his plasma rifle, intending to knock it out of his hand, when he threw that fistful of sand in my eyes, I managed to dodge the sand, but that threw my aim off, and unfortunately, not my momentum."  
Ash and his motley crew finished breakfast, Bandit did the dishes, showing off his excellent athletic ability. Misty decided to try to make Ash jealous, she whispered, so Ash could hear. "He's good! And cute." Ash frowned but pretended not to hear her, Bandit, whose suburb hearing had caught the remark, smiled thinking. "Misty tries so hard to flirt with Ash, but he's clueless. Hmm maybe I can use my "connections" to get myself invited to a dinner where I can bring 3 guests, Ash, Misty, and Aeris. We can leave them alone in a romantic atmosphere, Ash can be a baka but he's not insensitive, and, maybe I'll admit to Aeris about my feelings for her." Bandit suddenly felt weak at the thought of his trusty assistant, a girl he had known since her birth when he turned 2, their birthdays were on the same day and their families always celebrated together. He had thought of Aeris as a sister since he was 4, loved her since he was 13, and unable to think of anything else since he was 17. He knew he was as passionate about Aeris as Ash was about Misty, maybe just not as deserving. "Although peaceful by nature, I'm more willing to resort to violence, I've cut people's hands off, I've pulled the trigger on my plasma rifle, then there is the famous "Trollman Incident", some pacifist I am, I am a warrior, what could a gentle person like Aeris see in me?" Bandit sighed and pulled out his family ring, for the past 5 generations, the Mcgee men had used it to propose to their lovers, Bandit's own father, Thomas, had used it to propose to Bandit's mother, Linda, and he, Bandit, was hoping someday to propose to Aeris with it.  
"Nice ring!" Came Misty's voice, she was peering around his bicep, since he was too tall for her to look over his shoulder. Bandit snapped the case shut, blushing, and slipped the case back into his pocket. Thanks, family heirloom." Misty smiled "Ya gonna propose to someone? It was in a case like they always are when a guy proposes." "Great" thought Bandit, more embarrassed than before "Trust a romantic to know THAT." Thinking quickly, Bandit replied "Actually I was thinking of giving it to Ash so he could propose to you." Misty's face turned the color of her hair, pressing his advantage, Bandit continued to tease the redhead. "C'mon, Misty, everyone thinks you two would make a perfect couple." Misty turned even redder and said "One more word, Mcgee, third times the charm..." "Maybe I should propose for him." before Misty could object, Bandit got down on one knee, held out the once again open ring container and said "Misty Waterflower, will you marry Ash Ketchum?" In her mind Misty thought "Yes! Yes I will!" outside she indicated her obvious anger, furious she brought out her mallet and swung it, with reflexes born of the Martial Arts, Bandit whipped out his Katana, and pressing the flat side against his arm, blocked the attack. "Where does she keep that thing, anyway?" glancing suspiciously at Misty's pockets he thought "Those pockets must be much deeper than they look." Outloud he grinned at Misty's amazed expression and said "Reflexes born of the Martial Arts." Misty shook her head in disgust.  
"What's going on?" Ash walked in, looking curious. "Nothing Ash, I'm just teasing Misty." Bandit said, standing up. Ash noticed the ring. "Hey, man, what's with the ring?" Bandit grinned "I was thinking of giving it to you so you could propose to Misty." Ash blushed and lowered his head. "He's joking Ash, that ring is a family heirloom." Misty said quickly, putting away her mallet Bandit laughed and tucked away the ring and his Katana, Shadowblade, then he realized Misty had put away her mallet, and he watched to see where she kept it hidden for future warning that she was pulling it out, this was as big a Mystery as Brock's eyes, if he has any at all. (Brock looks irritated) Don't mess with me Brock, I am the Writer, don't make me use my powers on you. (Brock stops looking irritated)  
  
Mrs. Ketchum came into the kitchen. "Oh, Robert and Ash, there you are, there are a couple of strange looking people who want to see you two outside." "Thanks, Delia, c'mon, Ash, let's see what's up." Ash & Bandit walked out of the room. "I'd better see what these people want with Satoshi-chan." Misty said, uncommonly using Ash's Japanese name. She and Mrs. Ketchum followed Ash & Bandit as they went outside to find a couple of piratey looking people, one of them was that looser Ash beat in Pokemon the First Movie, the other one was a female, she was wearing the same pants as her comrade, but was wearing a silk shirt, but had the same bandanna and an eyepatch.  
  
"There you are, Mcgee, and you must be Ketchum." said the female pirate. "Yeah, that's Ash Ketchum, sis." said the male pirate, whom Ash recognized. "My brother, Thorn, wants a rematch with you, Ketchum, and I've been looking forward to a match with you Mcgee." Thorn, if that was his name, sweatdropped. "Felicia, I can challenge for a rematch myself." "Chill, Thorn, they are the enemy, so do you guys accept or yield?" Ash grinned "all right, I'll beat ya one more time but that's it." Bandit smiled and added "Felicia, I accept your challenge that is no challenge." Bandit had heard about how easily Ash had taken down the pirate guy last time, but had no intention of underestimating either one, no matter how confident he sounded. "So who starts?" Thorn asked, to which Bandit replied "You should be a gentlemen and let the lady go first." Thorn replied "But I'm not a gentlemen, and Felicia's not a lady." as he stepped forward. "Hey!" said Felicia. Ignoring Felicia, Thorn threw a Pokeball, out popped a Donphan, Ash responded by summoning Bulbasaur. Donphan started with a rollout attack, remembering that Donphan is a ground type, Ash called for a Razor Leaf, badly weakened by the attack, Donphan picked itself up and was immediately taken out by a Solar Beam. "Wow, Bulbasaur charged that Solar Beam up fast! Ash must have been training him!" Misty exclaimed, Ash grinned "Misty, I don't goof off in ALL my spare time, ya know." "No, I didn't know that, Ash." Misty joked, Ash smiled mysteriously "There are a few things about me even YOU don't know, Misty." Misty blinked, wondering what Ash meant by that, wondering and hoping...  
Ash's attention was diverted back to the match as Thorn called out his Machamp, having already recalled Donphan, Ash, trusting Bulbasaur but not wanting to push him, called "Bulbasaur! Can you handle another fight?" ::No problem, Ash!:: Bulbasaur said, grinning confidently. Machamp charged as Thorn called out "Machamp! Karate Chop!" Machamp unleashed his Karate Chop attack, but Ash, once more a step ahead of his inferior adversary, called "Bulbasaur! grab Machamp's hands with your Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur's vines snaked out and grabbed Machamp's wrists, holding him in place, Machamp struggled, but surprisingly couldn't break free, and was too far away to use his free hands. "Bulbasaur, go for another Solar Beam!" Point Blank, Machamp couldn't stay conscious in the midst of the Solar Beam,, Thorn was very red in the face as he recalled Machamp. "Way to go, Ash!" Mrs. Ketchum and Misty cheered together, Bandit smiled proudly. "Ash has trained well, someday he shall replace me as the World's Supreme Pokemon Grand Master."  
Thorn, now looking extremely angry, chose his next Pokemon, a Golem. Ash responded by recalling Bulbasaur and sending out Cyndiquil. "A fire type against a rock type!?" demanded Felicia. "I hope Ash knows what he's doing." Mrs. Ketchum said worriedly, Misty's smile became broader and she said. "He does, I know Ash, whenever he gets that look he's got right now, it means he's got something up his sleeve." Ash did, Cyndiquil used her suburb agility to dodge Golem's clumsy attacks, then powered up a tremendous flamethrower that set Golem on fire, after a minute of more clumsy attacks, Golem simply passed out from the heat.  
  
Writer's Note: I don't know if Cyndiquil is male or female, I have Cyndiquil as a female because in the Anime, it SOUNDS female, but I could be wrong  
  
Thorn recalled Golem and without thinking, sent out a Venomoth "Moth!" cried the Venomoth in terror, it tried a Stun Spore, but Cyndiquil fried the attack AND Venomoth. Ash recalled Cyndiquil and sent out Heracross to deal with Pinsir, the two got into a grappling match, which Heracross won easily, and finished the match with a Horn Flip, with Pinsir out cold, Heracross jumped on a tree and started sucking on the sap (Ash sweatdrops) "Okay, in that case, I'll just use another Pokemon, take a break Heracross!" Ash said "Cross!" Heracross replied. Thorn now sent out a Chikorita, so Ash countered with his own Chikorita, who immediately jumped into Ash's arms for a hug. "What's with Chikorita?" Mrs. Ketchum wondered, Misty explained "Chikorita, for some odd reason, has a crush on Ash." "Huh?" Mrs. Ketchum wondered, she looked back over at Ash, who was talking to Chikorita. "Chikorita, I know you can beat that other Chikorita, I have faith in you, just do your best, all right?" "Chika!" Chikorita agreed, happily, she jumped to the ground, and faced off against the other Chikorita, at superior levels, with better training, and higher loyalty, Ash's Chikorita won easily.  
"Thorn has no more Pokemon, victory to Ash!" Bandit announced, Thorn recalled his beaten Chikorita and stomped over to a rock where he huffily sat down. "Okay, Mcgee, it's you and me now!" Felicia announced as Chikorita jumped back into Ash's arms for a hug, Ash grinned sheepishly and stepped turned to watch Bandit vs Felicia. "For my first Pokemon, I choose Gyarados!" Felicia unleashed her Gyarados, who was covered with scars and looked extremely mean. "Okay, Ninetails, go!" Bandit's Ninetails was undoubtedly the most beautiful in the world, and the most powerful. "Gyarados! Use your Hydro Pump!" A powerful cascade of water shot from Gyarados straight at Ninetails. "Ninetails! Reflect now!" The Hydro Pump shattered before it touch Ninetails. Flustered, Felicia yelled "Gyarados! Use Dragon Rage!" One step ahead of her, Bandit responded "Ninetails! Confuse Ray Now!" Gyarados suddenly looked confused, it spun itself into a Dragon Rage, sailed through the air, and crashed to the ground and lay there, stunned. "Ninetails, time to surround Gyarados with a Fire Spin."  
Ninetail's Fire Spin surrounded Gyarados, even being part water and with his steel like scales, Gyarados couldn't stay conscious from the intense heat from the Fire Spin of Bandit Mcgee's Ninetails. Felicia recalled her now unconscious Gyarados and sent out a Golem, Bandit responded by recalling Ninetails and sending out his Persian. "Golem! Tackle Attack!" Felicia called "Persian! Fury Swipes!" Golem charged, but was no match for this particular Persian's super sharp claws, weakened, Golem was caught off guard by a Water Gun/Thunderbolt attack that left him unconscious. "Wow, and I thought Ash ended his match fast!" Misty exclaimed. "This fight isn't over yet! Hitmonchan, go!" Bandit responded this time with Exeggutor. "Grass types are weak against fire, Hitmonchan, Fire Punch!" To Felicia's surprise, Exeggutor was not even fazed by the attack. "A low level Hitmonchan, no point in dragging this out, Exeggutor, focus a Psybeam!" A strange glowing burst of energy shot from Exeggutor's eyes and knocked Hitmonchan flat, the dazed fighting type struggled to it's feet. "Not bad, especially since that attack did double damage, okay Exeggutor, finish it with a stomp!" faster than anyone believed and Exeggutor could move, Exeggutor jumped forward and stomped on Hitmonchan's head, knocking him out. Felicia recalled Hitmonchan and Bandit recalled Exeggutor. "Why does Bandit switch Pokemon after every round like that?" Misty wondered. "It's his style of exercising all his Pokemon." Ash explained as he tried to ignore Chikorita's snuggling. Bandit sent out his Mr. Mime as Felicia this time summoned a Beedrill. "Bandit has type's advantage," Misty observed "He'll win real fast this time." Ash shook his head. "He'll drag this out before a really dramatic finish, I almost feel sorry for that Beedrill, but Bandit won't hurt it TOO much." "Beedrill! Against a Psychic type use your Pin Missiles!" "Mime! block those missiles with your Double Slap now!" Mr. Mime easily blocked the Pin Missiles, flustered, Felicia ordered a Twin Needle, Bandit responded by calling for a Substitute, the clone easily dodged the attack while the real Mime, at Bandit's command, shocked (sorry :) ) everybody by hitting Beedrill with a Thunderbolt. "I didn't know that Mimes could use electric attacks!" Misty and Ash said together, what FELICIA said cannot be repeated here. Dazed, Beedrill floated aimlessly, and was unable to dodge the upcoming Mega Punch, which caused it to faint.  
Clearly enraged and obviously not concentrating, Felicia choose Flareon to battle next, Bandit recalled Mr. Mime and grinned at Felicia. "I have just the Pokemon to battle here, (Throws a Pokeball) Kabutops! I choose you!" "Kabutops!" announced Bandit's Kabutops, glaring at Flareon. "Dodge this, mantis-head! Flareon! Flamethrower now!" Kabutops calmly stood there in the face of the Flamethrower and didn't even flinch. Once the attack finished, Bandit called "We'll give you another free turn, go ahead." Felicia thought and called for a Fire Blast, which didn't effect Kabutops at all. "Okay, that's two, we'll give you one more free shot, and then Flareon goes down." Felicia decided that a Poison Smog would be the best attack, but as the smog filled the area, Bandit said "Strike three, Flareon is out, Kabutops! Skull Bash Attack!" Kabutops charged through the Poison Smog, apparently unaffected, and slammed Flareon backwards, then followed up with a Sword Dance to clear the smog. "I think you should know that Kabutops here is a part Rock/Water hybrid, he's immune to fire and highly resistant to poison." to everybody's surprise, Flareon stood up, bruised, but still standing. "I trained Flareon to be highly resistant to any type of physical attack, even ground and rock attacks! What are ya gonna do?" Bandit grinned and said 4 words: "Improvise, Kabutops! Hydro Pump!" Needless to say, Flareon was out of the fight after that.  
Felicia's final Pokemon was Blastoise, Bandit chose to go with: "Charizard! I choose you!" Bandit's Charizard was impressive, 6 feet tall and with numerous battle scars and firm muscles, the tail flame was a bit larger than the average Charizard. "Blastoise! Take Down attack!" was Felicia's plan of attack, Bandit responded. "Show your strength Charizard!" Charizard reached up and caught both of Blastoise's claws in his own, Blastoise couldn't break free! "Charizard, hmmm, use Mega Punch." Charizard's Mega Punch sent Blastoise sailing, when he returned, he didn't look like he could take another attack. "Blastoise! Hang in there! Use Body Slam!" Blastoise charged, albeit a bit sluggishly, but Bandit knew what to do. "Charizard, Mega Kick." Bandit's Charizard's Mega Kick was a flying drop-kick that sent Blastoise through a nearby tree.  
  
Writer's Note: I was going to send Blastoise through the wall of a nearby house, but I didn't want to get Bandit involved with property damage, the Dark Network could pay for it, but I have other things for Bandit to do  
  
Bandit: Like what?  
  
Writer: Umm, like, ummm, training Ash before lunch!  
  
Bandit: Oh, okay, cool (Says it like Donkey)  
  
"All 6 of Felicia's Pokemon have fainted, victory to Bandit!" Ash announced, Felicia recalled her beaten Blastoise and the two pirates stomped off. "Congratulations, both of you!" Mrs. Ketchum said, Misty added "Yet another victory for you, Bandit, Ash you were fantastic!" Ash suddenly had a warm glow. Bandit stepped forward and spoke briefly to Ash, Ash nodded and said. "Bandit and I are going off for a while, we'll be back in time for lunch." The two trekked off into the woods, Misty started off after them but Bandit waved her back. Misty returned to the house, disappointed. Inside she glanced at the clock, 9:00, it was nearing 11:30 when Misty decided to look for Ash & Bandit. She trekked through the woods for 10 minutes before she heard voices. "Oof! Ow!" that sounded like Ash. "Ash, give it up, you're no weakling, but you're still no where near strong enough to take me down." "Who says I'm trying to take you down?" Misty hurried in the direction of the apparent scuffle, when on a nearby log she noticed a Pokemon League Hat and a pair of green knuckle gloves, curious, she picked them up, they were Ash's, she also noticed Bandit's duster coat on a nearby tree, she didn't touch that, she instead peered around the corner of the outcropping of a huge rock. Bulbasaur and Squirtle were engaged in some sort of head butting match, Heracross was sneaking up on Bulbasaur as Cyndiquil trained with Totodile. But what startled Misty the most was that Ash, shirtless and without his jacket has hid arms around Bandit's waist and with a lot of frustrated yelling, was apparently trying to wrestle Bandit to the ground, and not having any luck, finally Ash stepped back, the sight of his chest making Misty blush, and said "You're just toying with me, aren't you?" Bandit smiled and replied "I just want you to feel you're doing well." Then he stepped forward and gave Ash a shove that from Bandit's perspective was light, but from Ash's perspective was like getting tackled by a football lineman, he crashed to the ground, winded, Misty felt a brief surge of anger, then Bandit said: "Ash, your opponent could use a surprise attack like than at any time, you've can't let your guard down." "A valuable lesson, albeit a painful one." Ash replied as he climbed to his feet. Bandit darted forward with what looked like a punch, Ash flinched back but it was only a feint. "A fake out, Ash, some trainers use that, ya gotta be ready." "I will be." Ash replied confidently. Misty decided it was time to take them back for lunch. "Ash? Bandit?" She lowered her voice to make it sound like she was farther away, she heard Ash say: "Yipes! Misty's coming! Where's my shirt!?" Misty didn't catch Bandit's reply, she rounded the corner as Ash was putting on his jacket, Misty blushed when she saw that Ash had his jacket but not his shirt, despite her embarrassment, she noticed Bandit, who wasn't wearing his Duster Coat, had his hands behind his back and a sinister smirk on his face. "Uh, hi, Misty, what's up?" Ash asked, trying to sound casual, though he clearly was embarrassed. "Uh, it's almost lunchtime." Misty said, Ash sighed and said. "I'll go just as soon as I find my shirt." Suddenly Bandit pulled his hands out from behind his back, in his hands was Ash's shirt. "Will you look at that! I had it the whole time!" he said, with feigned innocence. "You did that on purpose so Misty would see me like this!!" Ash fumed. Bandit's grin became larger. "Ain't I a stinker?" he said as Ash put his shirt on, then remembered his was still wearing his jacket, flustered he rearranged his shirt and jacket, then accepted his gloves and hat from Misty, whose face was as red as Ash's. Ash recalled his Pokemon, Bandit retrieved his coat, and the three hiked back to the house, where Chinese food was waiting. Misty was deeply engrossed in her's, and enjoying the chopsticks, when she noticed Ash was deep in concentration as he fiddled with his chopsticks, they kept squirting out from between his fingers, and he would catch them, it was almost like he was trying to flip a quarter between his knuckles. "Still haven't mastered those chopsticks, huh Ash?" Misty asked, she was hoping to help him learn, by holding his hand (with her own) to position it correctly. Ash looked up at Misty with one eyebrow raised, a trick Misty had never mastered, and said. "Mastered? No." Misty was about to offer her help when Ash suddenly pulled out the chopsticks in an impossible position between his fingers, with all of the food from the container between them in a neat stack and added "Perfected? Yes." "Wow! Nobody can do that!" cried Misty as she turned to Bandit, who glanced at Ash and, grinning, said "That's ma boy! Taught him everything he know!" Bandit then pulled the same trick that Ash had just pulled off, Misty's jaw hit the floor. Ash & Bandit laughed, along with Brock & Mrs. Ketchum  
  
Writer's Note: (Through a mouthful of Moo Moo Gai Pan) I know, I know, Brock usually cooks, but he took the afternoon off so I could amaze Misty with Ash's chopsticks skills, (swallows and reaches for the soy sauce) check out what happens next...(Eyes fortune cookie)  
  
Misty felt jealous, Ash could tell so he walked over and guided Misty's fingers, naturally Misty was paying more attention to Ash's fingers wrapped around her own, but after 10 minutes, she "perfected" the chopsticks, when they were done, they opened their fortune cookies. Ash's said "You are about to embark on an incredible journey" Misty's read "Act soon, or your love life could be in jeopardy" Bandit's read "You have impressive leadership abilities, use them wisely" Mrs. Ketchum's read "There is a gardening show, coming soon, enter it!" Pikachu's read "Let up on the Ketchup, you never know when you won't be able to get any" (Pikachu sweatdrops) Brock's read "Change your style, or you'll never get a girlfriend."  
  
The crew puzzled over their fortunes, unaware of the tall figure staring through the window. "Poor mortals" the figure thought "They have no idea of the suffering they are about to go through." The figure's unseen eyes looked up at the darkening sky, darkening at 1:00 in the afternoon...  
  
Well, that's part one! How do you like it so far? I'm setting up the characters, so please be patient with me! The other characters will show up soon enough, so please give me feedback! 


	2. Then ended up abnormal...

Chapter 2:  
  
The sky continued to darken as the group cleaned up lunch. "So, Ash, how did your training go?" Mrs. Ketchum asked "Not bad, I only got 10 bruises and about 3 broken bones." Ash joked. Bandit drummed on Ash's head with his chopsticks and said "C'mon Ash, can I help it if you're as frail as wet tissue?" Ash grabbed the chopsticks and replied "If I'm so fragile, how come I kept getting up?" Bandit shook his head "It's cuz you've got a head like a Golem's shell, superhard with really nothing in it." Misty spoke up "How does Ash suffering like that increase the skill of the Pokemon?" "It was a physical endurance session, this allows the Pokemon to take greater punishment without really getting hurt." Bandit replied, than continued "This also makes the Pokemon healthier, and this happier, and having their trainer going through the same thing seems to increase tthe potency of the training."  
The conversation ended suddenly as they noticed a flash of light from outside. "Hey, it's dark out, at 1:10 in the afternoon." Observed Brock, who was closest to the window. There was a knock at the door, Mrs. Ketchum went to answer it. Misty walked over to the window and looked out, she couldn't help but think that the mysterious twilight was kinda romantic, she didn't say it outloud, knowing she would be rewarded with dirty looks from the others. Suddenly, from the front door of the house there was a bloodcurdling scream. "Mom!" Ash shouted, rushing toward the front door, Bandit, Misty, & Brock collided with each other and collapsed in a heap. "I'm working with amateurs here!" Bandit said, disgusted. "Ow! My kidneys!" Misty complained. "My hair's getting messed up!" Brock said, just to contribute to the conversation. Pikachu sighed ::Humans:: he said. Togepi looked confused. ::What's wrong with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma?:: he wondered. ::It's a human thing:: Pikachu said by way of explanation. ::Oh:: Togepi said, still looking confused. At the front door, Mrs. Ketchum was pressed against the wall looking terrified. Just inside the door, a tall (6.7) catlike Pokemon with light purple fur was holding out it's hands (3 fingers each) in what looked like a gesture of peace. The Pokemon was speaking telepathically. Ash was amazed when he saw who it was.  
  
Writer's Note: By now I'm sure you know who's here, he's baaaaaaaaaaack!  
  
"Mewtwo!?" Ash exclaimed in amazement. Mewtwo said, sounding desperate. "Mom! It's alright! Don't worry" Mrs. Ketchum calmed down. "Hey Mewtwo, c'mon in." Ash said, and closed the door as Mewtwo stepped inside. "Ash, please, oh, Mewtwo this is my mother, mom, meet my friend Mewtwo." Mewtwo greeted politely. "H-hello, uh, Mewtwo." Mrs. Ketchum stammered, she was afraid, but trying to be polite, this tall, frightening Pokemon was clearly a friend of her son's. Bandit, Misty, & Brock ran into the room, Misty, who was in front, stopped and Brock slammed into her and Bandit slammed into him, they all toppled over like dominoes. "Not again!" Bandit complained. "My hair!" cried Brock. "Boys." said Misty from somewhere underneath the heap.  
Ash shook his head, "Hey, guys, Mewtwo's here!" He said. Bandit, Misty, & Brock scrambled to their feet amist gurnts and barely restrained curses. "Hi Mewtwo." They all said togethor. Bandit had been with them on New Island, so he knew about Mewtwo. Pikachu & Togepi walked in. ::Mewtwo!:: Pikachu said in surprise, ::Mew Who?:: Topepi asked. ::Oh! Mewtwo! You're a friend of daddy's!:: Togepi said, he walked over to Mewtwo and hugged his leg, Mewtwo lifted his leg and and picked up Togepi, who chirped happily. "Why does Togepi call you daddy, Ash?" Misty wondered, Ash shrugged and pulled out his Pokedex, Dexter, for an answer, Dexter had no answer. Bandit pulled out his Pokedex, Socrates (Upgraded by the Dark Network) and plugged in his headphones (Yes, he has a Pokedex with a headphones option, -_- , plus his duster coat has a LOT of pockets -_- ;;;) and said "Socrates, any info on why Togepi calls Ash daddy?" Socrates beeped and replied, through the headphones so only Bandit could hear, "Togepi, the Egg Pokemon, a normal type, it becomes imprinted with the image of the first thing it sees, believing that to be it's mother. Once Togepi is imprinted, it senses who it's surrogate mother is and is not friendly with, and likes or dislikes accordingly. If the surrogate mother falls in love, or is already in love, Togepi senses this and thinks of it's mother's love interest as it's father." Bandit now wore the biggest grin ever in Japanese Animes. "Yes!" He thought "Now I have PROOF that Misty is in love with Ash, now if I can proove that Ash is in love with Misty, I'll be in business!" "Well Bandit, anything?" Misty asked, Bandit just gave her a sinister smile and tucked away Socrates and the headphones. "Uh, oh," Ash said "I know that look, he knows something that Raging Rydon's couldn't drag out of him."  
"That's riiiiiiiiight!" Bandit said, grinning evily. "C'mon Bandit, tell us what you know." Misty pleaded, Bandit pulled Socrates and the headphones out, once Misty had the headphones on and plugged in, Bandit spoke: "Socrates, repeat to what you just said." When Misty heard the reason Togepi called Ash daddy, she blushed and quickly handed Socrates and the headphones back to Bandit, who was once more grinning evily. "Well, Misty?" Ash wanted to know, Misty blushed harder and didn't respond.  
  
Mewtwo, Mrs. Ketchum, Brock, Ash, Pikachu, & Togepi all stared curiously at Bandit, who was grinning evily, and Misty who was as red as a tomatoe. None of them had heard what Socrates had said, but Mewtwo's telepathy had picked up Bandit's thought, since he thought it so hard. Mewtwo kept the thought to himself, but resolved to talk to Bandit and maybe Misty. Outloud, er, uh, so everyone could hear him, Mewtwo said "Okay" Ash said, he and Mewtwo walked into the kitchen, Bandit & Pikachu, who had the best hearing in the group, snuck over to the door and listened intently. I wanted to talk to you alone, so that your reactions don't give away what I'm saying, even though I can hear your thoughts if you think them hard enough or think directly at me. Mewtwo focused his telepathy so only Ash would heat him, although Ash was talking loud enough that Bandit & Pikachu's suberb hearing picked up what he was saying. "Okay, we're alone, what's on your mind?" "Danger? Wattya talking about Mewtwo? I'm in danger everyday with Misty around." "I HEARD THAT!!" Ash & Mewtwo sweatdropped, Ash hadn't meant for that last comment to be so loud. "That's just a Solar Eclipse." Ash guessed. "Umm" Ash & Mewtwo were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice the tall, dark cloaked figure starting at them through the window at them. "Good, Mewtwo is here, the humans will have a better chance of surviving when HE shows up." The figure thought.  
  
(Scene changes to Slowking covered in Snow)  
  
Slowking: "I could use pants."  
  
Writer: (Raven) "Slowking!? What are you doing!? You are not in this fic!"  
  
Slowking: (Checks script) "Hmm, you're right, sorry about that."  
  
Writer: "Try studio 11, down the hall and to the left."  
  
Slowking: "Thanks." (Leaves)  
  
Writer: "We now return to the fic, already in progress..."  
  
Bandit & Pikachu walked into the kitchen "But Ash, what if Mewtwo is right and your doom is impending?" Bandit asked, Ash had mentioned that part. ::Yeah, the sky doesn't just darken for no reason:: Pikachu agreed. Overhearing Bandit mention Ash being in danger caused Misty to hurry into the kitchen with Mrs. Ketchum and Brock in tow. "What's this we hear about Ash being in danger?" Mrs. Ketchum asked as Misty siddled up next to Ash, Mewtwo raised his hands in defense and said, so everyone could hear (I had a psychic feeling and came to see if I could protect Ash.) "NO ONE CAN PROTECT ASH KETCHUM!" Roared a voice, making them all jump, the air appeared to rip open, and a goatlike, manshaped creature stepped out. The beast was hideous, 18 feet tall, with dark brown fur, curled horns, and bloodred eyes that reeked of evil. "I am Orcus, Lord of Darkness!" The creature roared, Mewtwo instinctively stepped in front of the humans to shield them and fired a ball of psychic energy at Orcus, who easily bounced it right back at Mewtwo, sending him flying through the wall, the house nearly collapsed. "Mewtwo!" Ash yelled, he ran to the hole with Misty attempting to keep herself between Ash and Orcus. Out of thin air popped another figure, this one was 7 feet tall and was wearing a black cloak, the figure waved his hand and Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Bandit, & Mewtwo were sucked into the rip in the air, the figure waved his hand again and the rip closed. "What's going on!?" cried Mrs. Ketchum as she snatched up Togepi, who appeared to be in shock. Orcus laughed cruelly, "Now you'll never see your precious baby boy again!" Mrs. Ketchum's knees buckled, No! it couldn't be true! Orcus grinned, "Your beloved child is gone forever, he's in the Nighlight Zone, where my gang, the Vile 13, will surely kill him!" Grief overtook her and she started sobbing. Orcus laughed again, causing pain was his favorite pastime, especially pain that came from love, for that was the most painful, seeing others in pain gave Orcus great pleasure.  
The figure waved his hand and another rip opened, Mrs. Ketchum & Togepi were sucked in, the rip closed. Orcus was angry "Beyonder!" he bellowed, but Beyonder, if that was his name, had already disappeared. Orcus cursed and looked around. "Now that I'm already outside, I can't possibly reopen the gate, but my Generals can from inside! I'll just wait for them and in the meantime I'll start my base here in Pallet, and then, THE WORLD!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! (Beyonder sweatdrops)  
  
Well, that was interesting, planar travel, cool! and awesome special effects! Tell me what you think! I know this part was short, but the plot is set, I now just have to set it in motion, the characters are now in another dimension and everyone else will show up in part 3, and their adventure will be explained as well, though it's now getting complicated, and may take while, but bear with me, please! 


	3. And got stranger still...

Chapter 3:  
  
"Ash, wake up, please!" came Misty's voice, pleadingly. Ash groaned, he didn't feel like getting up just yet. He felt Misty's hand on his forehead, and her ear on his chest, he pretended to be unconscious until she lifted her head, then he groaned and opened his eyes, he found himself staring into a pair of sea-blue eyes, the eyes of the girl he loves. "Misty?" he croaked. He felt tired, the last thing he remembered was being sucked through a weird looking rip in the air, then he was surrounded by a barrage of colors, and now he was lying on his back, which hurt like his head, Misty helped him to his feet, he had been lying on a root, which explained the back pain. Misty helped Ash to his feet but kept a hold of his arm. "I'm alright, Misty, just a bit dizzy." Ash sounded dizzy, Misty reluctantly let go of Ash's arm. "Where are we?" Ash wondered, he looked around and spotted Brock, Pikachu, Bandit, & Mewtwo, all looking relieved. Misty answered: "We don't know, while you were out, Bandit & Mewtwo scouted the area, neither of them has been here, not that they remember, anyway." Bandit & Mewtwo looked offended. "Of course we would remember! I have a photographic memory!" Bandit said, Mewtwo added (As a Psychic type, I can remember anything.) Misty raised her hands in defense. "Alright! All right! But in any case, we don't know where we are." Ash noticed that two people were missing. "Hey! Where are mom and Togepi!?" Bandit looked grim. "Even my tracking skills and Mewtwo's telepathy couldn't find them anywhere, I'm sorry Ash, we looked all over." Ash noticed that Misty had tears in her eyes.  
"Look everyone," Bandit said "Now that the whole group is conscious, we had better get moving and find out where we are, Mewtwo and I scouted the area within a 1 mile radius, there just might be a town beyond that, maybe we'll find Delia & Togepi." Everyone saw the logic in that; it wasn't long before they had traveled beyond the scouted mile. "Ow! Darn it!" came a voice, startling them all. "Over there." Bandit observed, the group headed in the direction of a pair of arguing voices. The finally found them, a pair of girls, one was trapped in a bramble bush by her kimono, the other trying to free her. The kimono-clad girl had black hair and blue eyes, the other was wearing shorts and a baseball shirt, and she also had a baseball cap on over her light green hair. "Casey! Jeannette!" Ash exclaimed. "Ash! Misty! Brock!" Casey said in surprise. "Ash? What are you doing here?" Jeannette asked, equally surprised. "Never mind that right now, hang on." Ash replied, he knelt by Casey to help her with Jeannette. "That'll take too long, stand aside." Bandit said, pulling out his katana, Ash grabbed Casey and pulled her aside, Misty tried not to look jealous. SLASH! SLASH! Jeannette stood up, now free of the brambles, although she still had a few thorns. "Thank you, guys." She said gratefully. "Yes, thank you, but like we asked, what are you doing here?" Casey asked, then yelped in surprise when she saw Mewtwo, she tried to hide behind Ash. "It's okay, he's with us." Misty assured them. She then noticed that Brock had a goofy look on his face, and he was blushing, before she could say anything, Brock darted forward, knelt before Jeannette and took her hand "Jeannette! It is beyond wonderful to see you again! The tatters in your kimono only increase the beauty of your face, truly the vision of loveliness! And your eyes! Never before has such a gorgeous blue been seen my name is Brock and I'm so sorry that Ash beat you my friend can be so rude sometimes maybe you'll beat him I sure hope so would you go out with me!?!?!?!?"  
  
Writer's Note: You might notice the erratic way Brock is talking, that is not my typing, that is Brock talking, but you knew Jeannette was gonna be here, so surely you predicted Brock's misguided come-ons?  
  
Brock continued to babble "Please I would be honored if you would be my girlfriend I'm a Pokemon Breeder by the way would you like to-" Brock's irritating rabble was interrupted of course by Misty's trusty mallet "Heal, boy!" she commanded  
  
Writer's Note: Misty's trusty mallet, bet ya saw that coming, didn't ya?  
  
Jeannette looked at Brock uncertainly "Friend of yours?" she asked of Ash. "Nope, I don't even know him." Jeannette smiled "He's like an older brother to you, isn't he?" "Yeah, an annoying older brother." "Is he always like that?" "Only around good looking girls, which is why he ignores Misty!"  
  
WHAM!!  
  
Writer's Note: I think you can guess who hit who and with what ^_^;;;  
  
"Ash? Are you okay?" Jeannette asked, kneeling by Ash's side. "Yeah, I get this all the time." Ash replied as Jeannette helped him to his feet, Jeannette gave Misty a look "Was that really necessary?" she asked, Misty put the mallet away, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Ash, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that." "Misty, I was only teasing you out of friendship, I didn't mean that as a personal attack." "You two must really be close." Jeannette observed, Ash & Misty looked embarrassed. "They are!" Casey assured her. The next thing Jeannette knew, Brock had her by the hand again and was saying "You and I could become very close please I would love to get very close to you would you like to get close to me?" Again came the mallet, this time knocking Brock into the air "AGAIN with the mallet!" Brock cried. "Now THAT was necessary." Jeannette said, giving Misty a look of gratitude. "Say, how do you know Ash?" Casey asked Jeannette, before Jeannette could respond, they heard a yell 'yaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" WHAM!! A teenage boy fell out of the tree on top of Misty, the boy sat up, looking dazed. "Throttle!" Ash said in surprise, Throttle, who was born in the Crimson Kingdom, was an ex-biker, and a friend of Ash & Misty, and one of the many who had tried to get them together. "Hey! I landed on something soft!" Throttle said in surprise. "Yeah, Me!" Misty said, irritated. Throttle Sweatdropped. "Say, Ash, does Misty have her mallet handy?" "No, but she can in an instant!" Ash replied, truthfully. Throttle jumped off of Misty and hid behind Bandit, Misty considered going after Throttle, but decided she didn't want to mess with Bandit.  
"Bandit, sir, an honor to see you again." Throttle said, bowing, Bandit rolled his eyes, although Throttle was tough, everyone knew he idolized Bandit McGee the way Tracey idolized Prof. Oak. As though the thought of his name summoned him, Tracey appeared. "Ash! Misty! Bandit! Brock!" He said. "Hiya Tracey!" Ash & Bandit said together, "There goes the neighborhood" Brock & Misty said. "Who is this?" Tracey & Throttle said as they looked at each other. Then they both looked at Casey & Jeannette, "Friends of yours?" Throttle asked, staring noticeably at Jeanette, Jeannette blushed and stared at Throttle. (Introductions later, I am picking up mind-signals from 4 more people, although none of them is Togepi or Mrs. Ketchum.) "Then let's move out! Once we find them, we can all introduce ourselves, then everyone will know who everyone else is," Bandit said, then as an afterthought: "Mewtwo here is a Psychic type, and a very powerful one, if he says there are 4 more people around, then there are, introductions will be easier when we're all together, I presume they are people we know." Within the next half hour, Ash and company had been reunited with Ritchie, Duplica, Todd, and Gary.  
  
Introductions were made to the group so everyone would know who everyone else was: "I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, I'm 12 and my goal is to be the world's greatest Pokemon Master!" "I'm Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City, I'm 13 and I want to be the world's foremost expert on Water Pokemon!" "I'm Brock Slate, hello ladies, I'm from Pewter City, I'm 17 and I want to be the world's greatest Pokemon Breeder!" "Tracey Sketchit is the name, I'm 17 and I want to be the world's most recognized Pokemon Watcher!" "My name is Throttle, I'm from the Crimson Kingdom, I'm 16 and I'm out to become the world's foremost expert on Poison type Pokemon!" "My name is Gary Oak, I also am from Pallet Town, I'm 12 and I want to be the World's greatest Pokemon Master!" "I'm Ritchie Candle of Pailette Town, I'm 12 and I want to be the world's greatest Pokemon Master!" "I'm Jeannette Fisher of Crimson City, I'm 16 and I want to be a great Pokemon Master!" "I'm Casey Ruth, I'm 10 and I want to be a great Pokemon Master!" "I'm Todd Snap, I come from Album Town, and I'm hoping to become the world's most recognized photo artist!" "I'm Duplica Imite, from the House of Imite, I'm 12 and I want to be the world's most recognized show person!" "The name's Robert "Bandit" McGee originally of Pallet Town, now of Silent Hill, I'm 19 and I am allegedly the World's Supreme Pokemon Grand Master!" I am Mewtwo, I come from New Island, my age is a mystery in itself, and I am one of the most Powerful Pokemon in the world.  
  
"Alright, Misty, Brock, Throttle & Tracey know Ash because they joined him in his journey at one point or another, Gary is Ash's arch rival, I'm a friend of Ash's parents, Jeannette fought Ash in the 4th round of the Indigo League, Casey met Ash in his journey through the Johto League, Mewtwo is a super powered Pokemon Ash fought against, then fought alongside, Ritchie fought Ash in the 5th round of the Indigo League, Todd & Duplica met Ash during Ash's journey in the Indigo League. Now that we all know each other," he paused to glance at Jeannette, who was looking at Throttle, then continued. I don't know where we are or what we are doing here, but we are hoping to find a town or something so we can find out."  
(Wait, you must listen to me) Said a voice. Everyone looked around trying to figure out where the "voice" was coming from, except for Mewtwo, who recognized it as telepathy. Then a figure appeared out of thin air, he was about 7 feet tall and dressed in a dark cloak that covered him from head to toe. "Hey! That's the guy who sent us here in the first place!" Ash observed. "That's right! He did this to us!" Brock agreed. The figure laughed (You both have a firm grasp of the obvious.) Mewtwo's eyes went wide. (He is the threat! That Orcus being wanted to kill Ash! This one is in cahoots with him!) Jeannette's eyes flashed "Well, we won't let him! Right Mewtwo!?" (Right!) Jeannette & Mewtwo suddenly appeared dressed as the Secret Service, they flanked Ash and glared at the Beyonder. (You're mine!) Mewtwo declared, he stepped forward and powered up one of his famous blackballs, the Beyonder sighed and waved his hand, Mewtwo's ball of energy exploded in his face, sending him flying backwards through a tree. (Ow.) Mewtwo commented, from his vantage point under the now fallen tree. "My turn! I choose! Hey! My Pokeballs are gone!" Jeannette said, as she reached into her suit for a Pokeball, Ash, Misty, Brock, Tracey, Gary, Richie, Throttle, Bandit, & Casey checked for their Pokeballs, none of them had any. "Hey! That reminds me! Where is my mom and Misty's Togepi!?" Ash demanded. "And my Ditto!" added Duplica. The Beyonder sighed and said (If everyone would PLEASE calm down and listen to me, I would explain.) Everyone settled down, Jeannette ditched the Secret Service suit in favor of her Furisode (Kimono), Mewtwo also ditched the uniform, the team lined up to listen.  
(First off, you are all in a place called the Nighlight Zone, here you are safe from Orcus for the time being, Ash, your mother and Togepi are safely in another dimension still, they are being looked after by Mew, a friend of yours, Mewtwo.) The Beyonder waved his hand and they could see a scene of a lovely garden near a cottage, Mrs. Ketchum was holding Togepi and looked like she was in deep thought, Mew was floating nearby, looking curious. "Okay, now what about my Ditto!?" Duplica wanted to know (Impatient, aren't we?) The Beyonder said, he snapped his fingers and Ditto appeared: "Ditto Ditt!" Ditto said, happy to see Duplica who scooped him up and hugged him. "What about the rest of our Pokemon, and why are we here while Mom and Togepi are there?" Ash wanted to know, the Beyonder sighed again. (Humans, so impatient, I'll explain, you 13 have to do something dangerous, your mother and Togepi will remain safe in that dimension, until you complete your journey, then they will be released, it's safer for   
them), as for your Pokemon, I only need a moment to construct your best team for each of you, here.) The Beyonder glowed, and everyone has 6 Pokeballs, except for Duplica, who only had Ditto, Misty, who only had 4 Pokemon worth battling with, same for Brock & Tracey, and Todd, who had no Pokemon at all, everyone checked to see who they had, some were surprised to see past favorites return, here is everyone's roster:  
  
Ash: Pikachu, Charizard, Bulbasaur, Pidgeot, Squirtle, Butterfree  
Misty: Starmie, Poliwhirl, Psyduck, Staryu, Vaporeon, Krabby  
Brock: Onix, Geodude, Vuplix, Golbat, Pineco, Rhyhorn  
Tracey: Scyther, Venonat, Marill, Growlith, Chansey, Hypno  
Gary: NidoKing, NidoQueen, Arcanine, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Eevee  
Richie: Charmander, Butterfree, Sparky (Pikachu), Tangela, Fearow, Tentacruel  
Casey: Chikorita, Raticate, Pidgey, Meowth, Doduo, Mankey  
Jeannette: Scyther, Beedrill, Bellsprout, Venomoth, Golem, Haunter  
Throttle: Arbok, NidoKing, NidoQueen, Golbat, Muk, Weezing  
Bandit: Charizard, Jolteon, Cloyster, Hitmonlee, Gyarados, Aerodactyl  
  
Writer's Note: You probably notice some Pokemon here that weren't here before, or we didn't know about, I ad-libbed, so sue me, fan-fic writers do it all the time, even the best do it  
  
"Misty! When did you get a Vaporeon?" Brock asked in amazement. Misty smiled. "Ash won an Electric Pokemon Contest recently using Pikachu, he had the choice of either an Eevee, or a Magmar, he chose Eevee and gave it to me, along with a Water Stone he happened to own." "Ash!" Brock said in amazement, "You gave up the chance to have a Magmar?" Ash smiled "Well, I knew how much Misty really wanted a Vaporeon, so how could I choose anything else?" Ash didn't mention that after he chose Eevee, he had bought a Water Stone so he could give them to Misty, who had been so pleased and touched that she kissed Ash on the cheek, Ash correctly interpreted the kiss as one of friendship, although both he and Misty would have preferred it to be a kiss to the lips out of love, although neither had actually said so.  
"Now, as for supplies, here are your bags" Everyone looked at their feet and found their luggage, everyone checked their luggage and found it satisfactory, especially Ash, who found his framed photo of himself and Misty at Maiden's Peak.  
"This is all very nice, but it doesn't explain what we are doing, could you please tell us, sir?" That was Ritchie, of course. The Beyonder nodded  
(Orcus is a Demon, he was born here in the Nighlight Zone, and he wants to take over the mortal plane, but to do so easily, he will need the help of his group, the Vile 13. They are not Demons, they are entirely mortal, but they are extremely powerful, Orcus has to be stopped, and that is your mission.) "Uh, how the heck can we beat a Demon?" Ash wanted to know. (I'm not sure entirely, but the 13 of you seem to have some sort of energy signal, I have been informed of this and was told that the 13 of you each possess a special power, powers that would enable you to defeat the Vile 13 and stop Orcus once and for all!) "You have been informed?" Gary demanded "I thought you were all powerful." (No, I only appear so from your limited perspective, I am more powerful than Orcus, but have no offensive capabilities, my master, who is far more powerful then myself, sent me to inform you and send you on this adventure.) "Oh yeah!? Well if your master is so powerful, why does he need US to do this, he can destroy Orcus   
himself and you can tell him where to stick this journ-" Gary was cut off as Ash & Misty tackled him and frantically tried to keep him from talking. The Beyonder shook his head (You should not challenge powers that you cannot comprehend.) Gary shook his mouth free. "Yeah? If your master is so dangerous, I challenge him NOW-" Misty wrapped both her hands around Gary's lips while Ash put him in a full nelson. The sky went dark green lightning cracked, hurricane winds whipped up. Mewtwo put up shields to protect them all. (That is my master, he is upset with you Gary.) The Beyonder said. "Hah! A little light show doesn't scare me-" Misty claps her hand over Gary's mouth again, he bites her, and says "WHOEVER YOU ARE WHY DON'T YOU COME DOWN HERE NOW!!!!"  
~All right~ said a voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once, and yet, nowhere at all. (Now you've done it.) The Beyonder said, sounding exasperated. A Raven, about 3 feet tall, and with Razor sharp feathers swooped down and perched on a log, the raven had blood red eyes with black pupils, and fangs, his feet looked like steel.  
(My master, the Razor Raven.) Beyonder said. "Hah, he doesn't look so tough!" That was Gary, of course, he had broken free of Ash, who was clutching his nose, and Misty who was clutching her hand. ~You are rude, Gary Oak, now apologize, I have appeared as you wanted.~ the Raven said, without moving his mouth, er, beak. "I NEVER APOLOGIZE!! You don't look all powerful!" ~I took on a form that would not invoke fear or reverence, but you insist on seeing my powers? Here's a little demonstration!~  
"Gary! Gary! He's the worst! He don't do no work! Gary! Gary! He sure sucks, he;s always stuck!" Gary's cheerleaders came out out nowhere, and they each had a mallet the size of Misty's, they proceeded to beat the crap out of Gary, then they flanked Brock, Tracey & Throttle, giggling in content. The others noticed that Jeannette looked jealous, then smiled as Throttle pulled free of his two cheerleaders, one went to Brock and the other went to Tracey. "You are all so beautful! I must have all your phone numbers!" Brock said, his three cheerleaders all said: "Sure! Mine is-" All six cheerleaders disappeared. ~Sorry, but that was getting out of control.~ Raven said to Brock, who was now lying on the ground, having fallen there Anime style. "Waaaahhh!!! It's not fair, how come Ash gets a girl and I don't!?!?" Misty turned beet red, then noticed that Ash was crouching near the Razor Raven looking curious, she sighed.  
"So you are this guy's boss, huh?" Ash asked. "Yes, Ash, I am the Razor Raven." The Raven spoke now with his beak. "My servant here is called the Beyonder, he was going to introduce himself, but Gary so rudely interrupted him, he transported you all here and assured the safety of your mother and Togepi, they are locked in a dimension that only Beyonder or myself can open, Orcus can never get to them, he also cannot reenter the Nighlight Zone because he can only open it from the inside." "It's good to know that, we are safe from him too, right?" "Yes, but not from the Vile 13, Orcus's generals." "I'm just curious as to how you know so much." "I am omniscient, at least from your point of view, but even I can't solve the mystery of Brock's eyes." Ash, Misty, Bandit, Throttle, & Tracey all laughed. Brock glared at Raven. "I dare you to say that again." The Raven did so and added: "Look at your clothes." Everyone noticed that Brock was now wearing a pink tutu. "AAAHHHH!! GET ME OUTTA THIS!!!!" Brock's clothes changed back to normal. 'Oh, Brock, I think you should know, I am an ally of Relaxing Pikachu." Brock looked horrified at the thought. "That's right, she's not here, but I would be happy to do her dirty work." Todd & Tracey grinned "Alright! RP! We're safe, Tracey!" Todd exclaimed, the Raven shook his head "No, R.P. may favor Todd & Tracey, and I am protective of Tracey, but I favor Ash & Misty, and Jeannette as well." "Hey, check out Misty's hair!" said Jeannette, everyone noticed that Misty's hair was purple, Ash's jaw dropped. Misty looked in a nearby pond and saw to color of her hair. "MY HAIR!! WHAT HAPPENED!?" "Oops, sorry about that." Raven said, Misty's hair was red again. Ash's jaw went back up. Misty was upset, but she tried to control her temper. "Raven, what was that!? I thought you favored me!" "I do! That was an accident, even omnipotent beings goof occasionally, we all make mistakes, remember that movie Manos the Hands of Fate? Anyway, I'd love to hang around, but I gotta go do some omnipotent stuff, maybe I'll make Serena fall in a mud puddle in front of Darien…" The Razor Raven disappeared.  
"That was weird." Ash said, speaking for all of them. The Beyonder continued. (Travel through the Nighlight Zone and fight the Vile 13 one by one-) He was again rudely cut off as Gary said "How the (He said a word that made Misty gasp and Jeannette faint into Throttle's arms) are we supposed to battle these guys!? They are supernatural, Mewtwo is the only one here with any powers.!" (Your powers will respond to a NEED, not a desire, from this point on, you will face enemies with incredible abilities and unimaginable power! Each has the experience of a hundred battles, but each of these opponents CAN be defeated, you must only look inside yourself to find the strength and the will, TO WIN!!)  
MORTAL KOMBAT!!  
The Beyonder shook his head at the sudden cry and said: (Ignore that, my master is a fan of Mortal Kombat, here,) he pulled out a bizarre looking necklace and handed it to Bandit. (This is Hoshi, it will glow every time you get near a member of the Vile 13, stare directly into it, and you will learn what you need to know. I must warn you, your journey starts now, from this point on, I can no longer help you.) He disappeared into thin air. Ash spoke up. "I think, that if we are going to travel like this, we need a leader! I elect Bandit!" Bandit: "Huh?" Misty: "I second the motion!" Brock & Tracey: "Yeah!" (Bandit would make an excellent leader.) Ritchie & Casey: "I agree!" Duplica: "My thumb is up!" Everyone looked over at Throttle, Gary, & Jeannette, the later of whom was still unconscious from Gary's language. "I nominate myself!" Gary, of course, Throttle added: "Of course, I vote for Bandit, but we'll have to wait for Jeannette's vote. As though on signal, Jeannette's eyes flickered, "Hey, beautiful, time to wake up." Throttle said, Jeannette opened her eyes.  
"What? No kiss from a handsome prince?" Jeannette asked, trying to sound like she was still dazed, Throttle blushed and helped her to her feet and said. "I hate to rush the issue, but we need to elect a leader-" "Bandit!" Jeannette said. Everyone looked at Gary who said: "Oh all right, I vote Bandit." "Unanimous." Bandit said. Everyone than looked at the necklace, it was a diamond about 4 inches high, 3 inches across, 2 inches thick. It was on a solid gold chain. "I'd better hang onto this." Bandit said, slipping the Hoshi around his neck.  
  
Writer's note: Several hours passed, and I suppose there is really no point in going into it, all it was, is the usual Ash vs. Gary, Ash vs. Misty, Bandit breaking up fights, Throttle & Jeannette showing a noticeable interest in one another, and Mewtwo being completely silent, so I'll just fast forward to 4 hours after the journey begins, it is now 6:00 P.M.  
  
Everyone was hot, tired, thirsty, sweaty, hungry, and miserable, everyone was grumbling except for Bandit & Misty. Bandit was a warrior, although he might voice frustration, he would never physically give himself away and had no intention of doing so now, Misty on the other hand, was complaining every step of the way. "It's way too hot, it's way too muggy, and these BUGS are driving me buggy!" She said, panting. "We KNOW Misty." Duplica said as she wiped sweat off of Ditto's jelly like skin. "Everyone's hot Misty." Jeannette said as she adjusted her lapels, which were of course sticky from her sweat, she no longer had that cheerful confident look, no she looked like she might kill anyone who even spoke to her. Misty ignored them and continued complaining. "I'm hot, I'm thirsy, I'm tired, and I want this to be over!" Ash has had enough. "WILL YOU SHUT UP!?!?" He hollered, in a second, Misty was in his face. "YOU GOT A PROBLEM!?!?" She shrieked. "YEAH YOU!!" "WELL I GOT A PROBLEM WITH YOU!!" "OH YEAH!?" "YEAH!" As Ash & Misty continued to argue, Bandit waved everyone over and said. "I bet ya Ash wins this fight." "No bet, I think you're right." Throttle said. "My money's on Misty." Gary said, Jeannette also felt Misty would win, as did Brock & Tracey, Casey however was betting on Ash. Ritchie, having felt Misty's ferocity himself, bet Misty would win, Todd & Mewtwo refused to bet. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!?" "YOUR COMPLAINING!!" "I'M HOT, SWEATY, HUNGRY, THIRSTY, TIRED, AND WORRIED ABOUT TOGEPI!!" "I'M ALL OF THOSE THINGS PLUS WORRIED ABOUT MY MOM BUT YOU DON'T HEAR ME WHINING." Misty blinked, stammered and said. "Well, I'm just venting my frustrations!!" "I'm frustrated too, Misty, but I'm not whining about it, and you call ME immature!" Misty stuttered and said. "Well, you're ugly!" She stormed over to a rock and sat down to sulk. Everyone else sat down to wait after Bandit explained that Ash & Misty wouldn't budge until they were through being mad at each other. Todd: "That could take years!" He decided to take some pictures of the area, and of Mewtwo, Todd couldn't believe he had forgotten to take a picture of the Beyonder. Ash dug something out of his bag, looked at it, put it away, and went to talk to Misty. "What was that?" Jeannette asked Throttle. "Looked to me like a picture frame." Throttle replied, curious as well. "Hey Misty?" "Yeah?" "Look, I'm sorry I yelled like that, I'm just frustrated and you got on my last nerve." "I'm sorry about my complaining, but I'm used to the days where I HAD to complain." "Forgive me?" "Sure, forgive me?" "Of course, friends?" "Friends." The two shook hands and announced they were ready to go. "Wow, that didn't take long." Observed Duplica, the others climbed to their feet, although Tracey and Todd had to be persuaded.  
Ash turned and started walking, but tripped and landed on his face, everyone looked at him in amazement, also with amusement, Gary refused to restrain himself. "Ha Ha Ha! What a klutz!" Ash jumped up, dragging along whatever he had tripped over. "Gary! I tripped over the-" They both stared, it was an arm.  
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" They both yelped, Ash threw it aside and everyone scurried away from it, except for Bandit and Throttle who approached. After a quick examination, Bandit said: "It's robotic!" Ash crept closer. "Are you sure?" He asked, Throttle rolled his eyes. "It's made of metal, there is no blood, and there are wires sticking out of it, not to mention that it's rusty, does that answer your question?" Bandit held up the arm as Throttle spoke, everyone came closer. "I think I recognize this thing, let's see if there are more around." The group searched and found two legs and another arm, they also found what looked to be the gut. The group searched further and noticed, a city! Eagerly they rushed to it, pausing at the entrance; there was no road, just grass, then the pavement of the city, which looked maybe 25th century. "Who wants to go in?" Bandit asked, no one wanted to stay outside, especially since there was most likely food and drink. "And soft beds, and warm blankets, and romantic restaurants, and a Laundromat, and a-HEY WAIT FOR ME!!" Misty dashed off after the others, since none of them wanted to listen to Misty when she got started on the easy life. It wasn't long before they spotted a trio of drink machines, they rushed over. "Anybody got loose change?" Bandit asked, everyone began searching through his or her bag, Jeannette glanced over at Ash as he glanced at his picture before tucking it away. (What is the purpose of this machine?) Mewtwo wanted to know, Ash walked over to the machine and pointed at the pictures saying. "It's a drink machine, you put money in, and a drink comes out either in a box or a can." Bandit walked over with a quarter and said. "Oh, good, they've got Mountain Dew." Mewtwo looked intrigued (You're sure there are drinks in there?) "Yep." Ash replied. Mewtwo held out his hands and said (Then move out of the way.) Ash's eyes went wide, "Mewtwo!?" he asked nervously. Bandit's eyes went wide as well "I think he's serious!" (He tackles Ash and shields him with his body)   
Mewtwo's Psychic Beam ripped through the air. "ASH!" Misty screamed, as the machine blew, as the smoke cleared, they could see that Ash was unharmed and digging through the cans and juice boxes, Bandit joined him after putting his quarter back into his pocket. "We got Grape Juice, Apple Juice, Kiwi Juice, Pineapple Juice, Mountain Dew, Mellow Yellow, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi…" "Uh guys, are you sure we can just take this stuff?" Misty asked as Ash & Bandit proceeded to stuff the drinks into Ash's backpacks, which didn't have much stuff in it to begin with. "The Dark Network will handle the cost of the drinks and the machine." Bandit said, holding up what looked like a black credit card. Suddenly there was a siren in the distance, they all paused as it came closer. Several human shaped androids suddenly floated toward them, they passed by the group as Ash nervously got to his feet, zipping the backpack shut over the drinks, he didn't want any trouble from the robots, but if they wanted the drinks back, he would give them back.  
"One of the refreshment machines in Sector 2 has exploded." One of the robots said, another added "Presumed cause: Electrical overload." "Eh, Heh-heh-heh, just uh, a little problem," said Brock nervously, then in an undertone he added "Mewtwo, apologize to the nice robot." Mewtwo crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. (I never aplogize.) Mewtwo said defiantly. "Hengers!" Bandit said, sounding surprised, one of the Hengers, if that was what they were, turned and said. "Who are you? Please present citizenship card." "Uh, citizenship card?" Tracey asked, sweatdropping as Todd took pictures. "Citizenship card, please!" Said the Henger who had spoken already. (You want to fight!?) snapped Mewtwo stepping forward. "Now now," Bandit said, raising his hand to stop Mewtwo, he stepped forward, held out a card, then flipped it into the air. The Hengers all looked up at the card. "Okay, lets go." Bandit said, walking toward the city's exit, the others followed him. Seconds later, the Henger caught the card, it had a picture of Bandit on it, and it read: "You've been had by "Bandit" McGee, Pokemon Grand Master!" "Stop!" The Henger cried, everyone sweatdropped, "RUN!" Bandit yelled, nobody had to be told twice, they all ran. The Hengers gave chase, firing their lasers, which exploded all around them, suddenly Ash tripped and fell to the ground in a very vulnerable position. "ASH!!!" Misty screamed, she ran towards Ash, Bandit whipped around a second later yelling for everyone to keep running. Misty grabbed Ash and pulled him to his feet, just before a Henger Laser sliced her leg, she screamed and dropped, clutching her wound. Ash pulled her to her feet and picked her up as Bandit dived in front of them. "GO!" He yelled, waving his Katana at the Hengers, Ash ran, carrying Misty who had almost passed out from the pain in her leg, it felt like a branding iron had burned it. Bandit held his Katana in front of his face, deflecting a laser with it. The force of the laser knocked Bandit onto his back, but Bandit had not trained as a warrior for so many years to be left in such an ignoramus position, he used his momentum to flip over backwards and deflected another laser, this time swinging his blade, he ran backwards with his Katana at the ready as more lasers exploded around him, one that he deflected actually hit it's owner, finally the group ended up outside the city, everyone stopped as the Hengers retreated back into the city. Bandit & Ash examined Misty's leg, the burn was ugly, but not serious. "Of course it wouldn't be, they weren't even aiming for her." Bandit said. "Yeah, they were aiming for me." Ash said sadly, looking at Misty who opened her mouth to protest, but Bandit cut them off. "No, they weren't aiming at you either Ash, they were playing with us." "Well I don't like this game!" Said an angry Jeannette, supporting Casey who was clutching a stitch in her side. "No, I mean like cat and mouse, they were only trying to scare us off," Bandit explained. "I recognize those things now, they are Hengers, excellent shots with very deadly laser, believe me, if those guys had been shooting at us, we wouldn't be here talking about It." (I could take them.) Mewtwo said, stepping toward the city, Bandit grabbed his arm "NO Mewtwo, even your shields wouldn't hold out for long, and you couldn't destroy enough of them to make a difference." Mewtwo grumbled but abided by his leader's decision. He instead asked Bandit (How do you know about Hengers?) "The Dark Network is working on prototype androids after creatures of legend, creatures called Hengers." Bandit explained. "Umm, people? Misty is hurt here." Ash said, Bandit couldn't help but notice that Ash was holding Misty's hand. "Oh, of course!" said Bandit. "We have a medical kit, now where is it?" "It's in my bag." Ash said, pointing at his bag, which lay several feet away, where he had thrown it as he knelt by Misty's side. "I'll get it." Offered Jeannette, who was closest, she helped Casey sit down and checked Ash's bag, her hand hit the frame Ash had been looking at earlier, and she glanced at it. The picture showed Ash & Misty dressed up in kimonos, yukatas, Jeannette noticed. Ash's was green with a blue obi, and Misty's was pink with a red obi, they were dancing, arm in arm, and they looked very happy, and cute, or Kawaii as they say in Japanese. Jeannette only glanced at the picture long enough to take in it's contents before pulling put the med kit. Bandit & Brock had the most medical knowledge, so they attended to Misty's owie.  
"Bandit, does Hoshi give any info on the Hengers?" Duplica wanted to know, as Todd took pictures of Ash by Misty's side (Heh-Heh). "It has to be near them to-HEY! IT'S GONE!" Everyone searched the area, but Hoshi was nowhere to be found. "I bet I know where it is!" Bandit cried, he threw a Pokeball. "Aerodactyl, I choose you!" "AERO!" Ash shrunk back in fear, Brock & Misty couldn't blame him, an Aerodactyl had once tried to eat him. "Aerodactyl, I need to to fly into the city there and try to spot a pendant with a large diamond in it, don't grab it unless there is nobody around." "AERO!" The Aerodactyl flew off, about 30 seconds later, it flew back out and landed near Bandit. "Aero Aero, Dactyl-Air!" said Aerodactyl, Bandit nodded as Aerodactyl continued. "Dact, Air-Dactyl! Aero Aerodactyl!" Bandit nodded "Okay, thanks Aerodactyl! Return!" after returning Aerodactyl, Bandit said. "He spotted it! It's in the hands of one of those Hengers! We've GOT to get it back!"  
(I'll get it back!) said Mewtwo, he dashed into the city, 30 seconds later he hurried out with laser burns on his arms as the Hengers chased him. Bandit & Brock attended to the injuries of a now very grumpy Mewtwo. "'Okay, everyone, sit tight, Tracey and I will search for another way in." Why you and Tracey?" demanded Throttle, everyone knew he wanted Bandit to think highly of his abilities. "Because we are the most stealthy" Bandit replied, no one argued. Minutes later, they returned and informed everyone that they had found a way in. "But we also have to use the city as our exit which means we all have to go, Misty needs to stay off that leg, Throttle? Be so kind as to carry her." "I'll do it." Ash said, volunteering so quickly even Bandit was surprised. "Ash, that's very kind, but if I'm too heavy-" Misty started to say, blushing noticeably. Ash, having lowered his head to hide his own blushing, didn't notice Misty red face. "You got hurt trying to help me, it's nothing." Ash pulled Misty onto his back, poke-back style, and they were off, before too long they were trudging through the sewers, everyone was holding his or her nose, except for Ash, who was carrying Misty, and Misty who was holding Ash's nose as well as her own. Gary stepped in something that squished and squirted, Gary shouted a word that fitted the situation and also echoed. "GARY!" Everyone yelled. "Gary, our voices can carry down this pipe a long way, maybe to where everyone at the base can hear us!" Bandit scolded "Yeah," snickered Ash "Imagine what that would sound like, some poor guy probably just jumped off the toilet because he thought it was talking to him! (Misty smacks him) Ow! Gag!!" Misty realized the hand she used to smack Ash was the one that had been plugging his nose, she quickly plugged it again, much to Ash's relief. Everyone continued down the pipe until they saw a manhole, Bandit climbed up and peered out, praying he wouldn't be noticed. "Hurry up, Bandit!" Came Gary's voice. "Do you know what I'm standing in?" everyone shushed him, Bandit noticed they were in some type of a garage type building, he shifted position to make sure no one was in there. "Do you know what just floated by me?" Gary again, everyone shushed him. "All clear." Bandit reported as he climbed out, everyone climbed out after him, Bandit pulled Misty from Ash's back and set her on the floor against what looked like a drink machine. Casey was the last one out, she let go of the cover too soon and it slammed into place with a very loud CLANG! "Everyone hide! Mewtwo! With me!" Bandit ordered as he whipped out his Katana, Shadowblade flashed in the dim light as Mewtwo powered up, everyone dived behind something, Ash dragged Misty behind the machine and held her, she clutched tightly to him-  
  
Writer's Note: To get a good idea of that scene, go to: http://miyabicnet.hoops.ne.jp/irasuto/color/dakisime.htm  
  
  
Bandit & Mewtwo stood back to back as they waited to see if anyone had heard the noise, a minute later they heard 2 Hengers approaching. "I heard something inside here." One Henger said, the two Hengers stepped inside, one was easy pray for Shadowblade, Bandit flipped out of the way as Mewtwo obliterated the other as silently as possible, everyone came out of his or her hiding place, Todd pausing to take a picture of Ash & Misty. The others cleaned up the mess and examined their location. They examined the machines and found them to be auto-food dispensers. "What the heck are those?" Brock wondered, Bandit spoke up. "I remember hearing about those, all you have to do is add water!" He pushed a button marked. "Chicken Noodle Soup" and a small covered bowl popped out, it could fit in someone's eye, Bandit grabbed a water bottle from a nearby machine (No money, just push the button!) and poured just a drop, POW, In a family sized bowl was delicious chicken noodle soup, Ash brought it over to Misty and they shared it (Misty insisted Ash have some) everyone chose their favorite meals from the machine and stuffed the palm sized packets into his or her bags, they also divided the drinks among everyone's luggage.  
"Okay, we've got food and drink, now I assume we go looking for Hoshi." Brock predicted. "Maybe Misty should stay here, along with someone to watch her." Bandit shook his head and replied "No, I'd rather keep the group together, divided I can't watch everyone, just follow me and stay quite." Ash pulled Misty onto his back again and they took off, occasionally they encountered Hengers, but Bandit & Mewtwo were more than a match for them, as long as they stayed quite and cleaned up the wreckage afterwards. Finally after about 2 hours of miserable skulking and spying, they found what appeared to be a Henger meeting, there was a box near the stage that attracted everyone's attention, one Henger was up on stage talking about stuff that none of our heroes was interested in. Bandit slunk up to the stage with stealth a ninja would envy, he was about a foot from the box when the ceiling opened, and Bandit froze as the Hengers looked up. A HUGE dragon looked to be made out of metal dropped through the ceiling and landed, the sucker was about 50 feet tall, definitely not to be messed with. "Holy Crap! What is that?" Throttle whispered from the doorway, nobody knew. The dragon glared down at the Hengers as Bandit reached into the box and pulled out Hoshi. "Well, I didn't think you would be here, friend." Bandit thought, not daring even to whisper. "Master Mech-Dragon, we are all ready for you." Said the supposed Spokes-Henger. "I am leaving for a while, keep the infidels out of our city as you always do, but kill them instead of scaring them." "Yes sir, Master Mecha-Dragon!" Said the Spokes-Henger as Mecha-Dragon took off through the roof. "Mech-Dragon, huh?" Bandit whispered, suddenly Hoshi started glowing, attracting the attention of every Henger in the room. Bandit said some things he normally doesn't say as he jumped to his feet, whipping out his Katana, the Hengers raised their lasers, but were knocked off their feet by a telekinetic blast. (Bandit! Run!) Mewtwo called, Bandit was no coward, but he was also no fool, he ran as the Hengers climbed to their feet and opened fire. Ash & Company ran as fast as they could go, and anyone who watches the show knows that these people can move out when they want to. Soon, they made it out of the city, the Hengers, stuck to their orders, did not follow. "Whew, everyone okay?" Bandit asked, everyone was, overhead they saw the Mecha-Dragon flying into the distance, Bandit stared into Hoshi, who had started glowing again, and announced the information needed: (Picture pops up in middle of screen)  
(Following information pops up on left side of screen)  
Name: Mecha-Dragon  
Age: 2,000  
Main Power: Mind Control over machines  
Main Attack: Ultra Breath  
Secondary Attack: Shijima Claw  
(Following pops up on bottom of screen)  
Information: Mecha-Dragon is a member of the Vile 13, he can gain complete control over any machine, including robots, and thus is most dangerous around machinery, but is a formidable adversary with or without assistance. Legend speculates that his brain is flesh and blood, making Mecha-Dragon a cyborg, not an Android.  
  
Bandit: "Well, I guess that's that, we just saw a member of the Vile 13, but we didn't have to fight him yet, we will eventually though." The troops set off, realizing for the first time that this was not going to be easy. Misty was, of course, still riding on Ash's back, and of course, they were both secretly enjoying it. 


	4. But the worst was yet to come...

Chapter 4  
  
The trek through the woods continued, until about 9 where the group stopped and rested, the next morning (Time? Who cares!) and they kept walking, everyone was still jumpy from the fight against the Hengers the day before. Finally, close to noon, they found a clearing where Ash gently set Misty on a rock while the others did some various other things for camp. Such as setting up a fire pit and everyone's sleeping bags (Throttle took care of Ash & Misty's, quite naturally setting them side by side, heh-heh)  
The group was near a lake, so everyone knew fish was for dinner for sure, the rations they got from the city unfortunately had been stolen by unseen scavengers, everyone was disgruntled about this, naturally. Throttle set up the fire pit and grease squeezer with Mewtwo's help. Everyone else, except Misty, who is wounded, made makeshift fishing poles to get dinner, substantial this time. "I'll go get some nuts and berries." Bandit said, walking into the woods. "You're an adventurer after my own heart, bring back a bunch, Bandit!" Throttle called cheerfully. "Okay!" Bandit replied.  
"Hey, Misty, ya doing okay?" Ash called as he headed for the lake. "No problem, Ash, just a bit sore, I'll be fine, catch us a big one!" "You got it!" "So, who do you think will catch the most fish?" Tracey asked as he steadied himself over a pair of logs. "I hate to disappoint you, Tracey, but it'll probably be me!" Duplica grinned as she squatted on a rock. "Lets just see…" Jeannette said with a mysterious grin  
  
Writer's note: I know, the food they got should have lasted them quite awhile, but I forgot that the crew was supposed to be without food for this chapter, by the time I remembered this, I had already posted the chapter, and I had to take the food away somehow. Stupid of me. I apologize for any confusion this boneheaded error of mine may have caused  
  
(3 hours later…)  
  
"Not even a nibble." Todd complained, he was stretched out over his log. "I think we all struck out." Added Casey, who was straddling the branch of a tilted tree. Brock looked like he was asleep, but with his eyes, nobody could tell. Even Tracey, usually the picture of patience, was beginning to grow bored, in fact… "Dratted, darn, lousy, no good FISH!!" He yelled swishing his pole angrily. "Waste of energy, Trace." Called a rather tired (And hungry) Misty from her vantage point away from the lake. "Beside, you'll just scare the fish, Tracey." Added Duplica, who looked like she was about to pass out. Tracey paused and raised his pole, tangled in the line was a fish, everyone gasped in amazement, the gasp woke Brock. (Yup, he was asleep) and everyone swished frantically, trying to tangle more fish.  
  
(10 Minutes later)  
  
"One lousy fish." Gary observed, Ash was looking closely at the fish, trying to figure out how to carve it into 13 equal pieces. "And it got tangled in Tracey's line" Todd observed as he downloaded his pictures thus far into his laptop. "Hey everyone, I'm back!" Bandit called as he walked into the clearing, everyone glanced at him except for Gary who took advantage of the opportunity to stuff the whole fish in his mouth. "YOU ROTTEN THIEF!!" Hollered Ritchie, forgetting his manners for once. "What?" Ash demanded "HE TOOK THE FISH!!" Yelled Throttle, who had noticed the missing fish. "What's done is done!" Gary protested, backing away from the angry crowd, Ash & Throttle were the first to attack, unfortunately, as the rest approached, a few punches were off and it quickly erupted into a battle royal, with numerous team-ups against Gary. Bandit shook his head and emptied his pockets into two equal piles, one for nuts, and the other for berries. He than walked to Misty and showed her some leaves in his hands. "What are those for? Misty asked. "Herbs for your leg." Bandit said, he unwrapped the bandages from Misty's leg; the burn was only slightly less ugly than the day before. "Hey everyone, look." Said Casey, who had noticed Bandit's attendance, everyone stopped fighting to watch as Bandit squeezed the leaves and rubbed them against Misty's burn, he than rewrapped the injury with fresh bandages. "How does that feel, Misty?" Bandit asked, repacking the med kit. "Great!" Misty said, "The twinging is fading now!" Tracey grinned. "Look at that, we fight while he helps Misty." "We should take a lesson from Bandit," Ash agreed "Especially me, I'm supposed to be her best friend." Throttle nodded "Yeah, he's not like somebody we know who steals food from his friends." He nudged Ash and the two grinned evilly. Gary nodded. "Yeah, that's telling-HEY! ARE YOU IMPLYING ME!?!?" Throttle glared at him. "I'm too direct for implication, don't ya think?" "So it's an accusation, is it?" Gary and Throttle were cut off by Ash. "Chill, guys, we don't need any more fighting." Misty stood up and tested her leg. "Feels a bit stronger!" she said, sounding pleased. "Maybe you should try walking around, see if that makes it feel better." Misty agreed and everyone started wandering around. Misty made sure to follow the direction Ash had taken. She finally found him, he was talking to Mewtwo, but Ash was talking in a low tone and Mewtwo was limiting his telepathy to Ash. Hidden behind the tree, Misty stared fondly at Ash, she placed her hand over her heart. "You LIKE him, don't you?" asked a voice from behind her "YAAAAAAAHH!" Misty screamed "YAAAAAAAHH!" Ash screamed. Mewtwo shook his head in amusement at the silly humans. Misty turned around, it was Gary. "What are YOU doing here?" Ash glared at Gary, Mewtwo stepped forward just in case. "I saw you walk off, shouldn't you be resting?" Gary said defensively. "I'm fine! I just need to walk it off, then I'll rest again." Ash stepped past Mewtwo but Mewtwo grabbed him, unable to reach Gary, Ash decided to curse him from a distance. "What do YOU care?" Gary raised his hands in a "Peace!" gesture and said. "I just want to talk." Ash pursed his lips, and after a moment he said. "Mewtwo, could you take Misty back to camp for me?" Mewtwo nodded and he and Misty returned. "Okay, Gary, we're alone, so talk." Gary nodded. "You are not going to believe this, but I'm genuinely remorseful about my earlier greed." "You're right, I don't believe it." "Well I am, and I want to help in any way, I can't undo what I did, but maybe I can redeem it." Ash stared at Gary for a moment, then let go of his anger; it would work against them when the time came. "All right, Gary, I let you redeem yourself on this, any ideas?" "Well, We could keep watch over her tonight, make sure that leg doesn't get any worse." "Hmmm, alright, help her with that leg to make up for the food, I guess." "To make up for the food, I'm sacrificing my berries and nuts, I refuse to eat them after stealing the fish." "Let me help" said Jeannette, stepping out of the trees, startling the heck out of Ash & Gary. "You two can't keep watch by yourselves, the more people who take a part in this, the more sleep everyone gets and the more efficient our work will be." Ash & Gary had to agree with that, so the three of them headed back to camp, but first, Jeannette mentioned Ash's photograph. Ash admitted he and Misty had spent a romantic evening at Maiden's Peak. "Normally I'm not interested in romance, but Misty is my best friend, so I did it just to make her happy." "Jeannette shook her head as Ash headed into the dinner circle where Gary's nuts & berries were distributed between everyone else, Throttle noticed Ash sneaking some of his berries into Misty's pile. "I think Misty's in love with Ash, too." Gary suggested. "We have got to get these two together!" Jeannette said eagerly. "Woa, I may be willing to make up for my recent actions, but romance isn't my department."  
Later that night, everyone went to sleep except for Gary, who would take first watch. Gary's 3 hour watch passed without incident, he woke Jeannette, who after 2 hours started feeling sleepy, she decided to take a walk. She checked on Misty and then walked along the lakeshore, into the woods. She soon heard singing, it was beautiful. Stricken by curiosity, she walked toward the singing. Jeannette reached a clearing where she found a beautiful young woman of about 19 years of age, she had light blue skin and blond hair, her eyes were a glowing turquoise color, she was wearing an almost Grecian dress, the moonlight reflected of her shoulders as she turned to Jeannette and stopped singing. "That was beautiful, your singing…" Jeannette trailed off, struck by the almost goddess like appearance of the girl. "Thank you." The young woman smiled, Jeannette felt jealous of the beauty of the smile, it was like having the stars shine a spotlight on you, it would capture the heart of any guy, except possibly Ash, who was superbly strong-willed and loyal, he was also in love with Misty, remembering that, Jeannette resolved to talk to both Ash & Misty about it. "It has been too long since I had an audience, 300 years ago, when I was a youthful 100." Jeannette was surpised. "You can't be older than 19!" "My body will be 20 in just a week, I'm a nymph, for me, 100 years are the equivalent of 5 years for a human, except for the maturity thing." "You must have been so lonely," Jeannette felt bad for the nymph. "My name is Jeannette, what is yours?" The nymph smiled "I am Galatea, it is so wonderful to meet you Jeannette, you are the first one in half my life to be kind to me. For that, you may catch as many fish from the lake as you wish, you and all your friends." Jeannette was stunned "Th-that's very kind of you." she said, her gratitude was obvious. "You have shown me great kindness, tomorrow I wish to meet the rest of your friends, it has been so long since I had companionship, tomorrow..." Galatea faded from view. "Thank you, Galatea..." Jeannette whispered. She hurried back to camp, she had maybe 10 minutes before Ash's shift when she arrived. For those 10 minutes, Jeannette pondered what had just happened, until it was time to wake Ash and go to sleep, before she passed out, she noticed Ash kneeling by Misty's side, touching her hair. Jeannette smiled.  
  
"Holy Mother of Moltres!!" Bandit's shout shook Jeannette from her sleep, she climbed out of her sleeping bag and found that most of the group was already awake, except for Misty, still in her sleeping bag, and Ash, who had fallen asleep by her side. Throttle was currently trying to wake them and he looked excited. Jeannette went over to Bandit to see what everybody was so amazed about, the lake was jumping with fish. Everyone gathered to stare, wondering what was going on, Jeannette picked up her fishing pole. "Come on, everyone, the fish are ours for the taking." "What makes you so sure?" Duplica wanted to know, although she was eyeing the fish hungrily. "Last night, I met a water nymph, she said we could catch all the fish we wanted." Ash looked at Misty, and said. "Well, how do we know she's on the level?" Jeannette smirked. "I think she can be trusted, Ash, now it would be rude not to accept such a gracious invitation." The gang fished, and soon had a pilefull. Breakfast was soon served. In the middle of the meal, they heard a voice. "Enjoying the fish?" Everyone looked up, it was Galatea. "I presume that's Galatea" Tracey said, whipping out his sketchpad. "Hmm, she's cute" Throttle said, glancing at Jeannette, who looked briefly jealous and said. "Galatea! Good to see you again!" Galatea smiled and walked toward the table, Ash and Ritchie rose to shake hands but they noticed a glow coming from Bandit's Hoshi. Curious, they all looked at Bandit as he pulled out the now glowing Hoshi.   
  
(Picture of Galatea pops up in middle of screen)  
(Following information pops up on left side of screen)  
Name: Galatea  
Age: 400  
Main Power: Control over Water  
Main Attack: Great Typhoon  
Secondary Attack: Waves of Fury  
(Following pops up on bottom of screen)  
Information: Galatea is the yougest member of the Vile 13, she is a water banshee, which is a spirit that screams to announce the upcoming death of someone. She is also a nymph, her strange heritage is thus far unexplained, however it gives her the charm and seduction of a nymph, with the terror and even occasional mavolence of the banshee.  
  
"She's a member of the Vile 13!" Gary yelled, surprised. Galatea smirked and stripped off her scarf, revealing a strange tattoo of sorts on her chest, it looked like XIII. "That's the same mark I saw on Mecha Dragon!!" Ash yelled, remembering the mark  
  
Writer's Note: I know, I know, I didn't mention this before, I only just thought of the tattoo thing, dang it, by the way, Hoshi is Japanese for Star or Wish  
  
"She's a member of the Vile 13, and that makes her our enemy!" Bandit yelled, whipping out his Katana, Shadowblade. Galatea laughed and announced: "Waves of Fury!" The tide came in, knocking everyone off their feet, Bandit & Mewtwo jumped up and attacked, but the watery walls kept Bandit from getting in close, and because the water was psychically summoned, it was rebuffing Mewtwo's attacks. "PiiiiiikaaaaaaaaCHUUUUUUU!!!!" Pikachu unleashed a devistating Thunderbolt, which Mewtwo joined in  
  
Writer's Note: In the Game Boy Version, Mewtwo can use the TM for Thunderbolt, as well as for Thunder, Solar Beam, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Water Gun, Bubble Beam, Fire Blast...  
  
Bandit: "Ummm, Raven? We're kinda getting destroyed here."  
  
Raven: "OH! Sorry! Anyway, the Thunderbolts had no noticeable effect...(Scene fades out to reveal the battle again...)  
  
"Great Typhoon!" Galatea yelled, the wind knocked Mewtwo & Pikachu back, and caused a whirpool that sucked Ash in and sent Bandit flying into a tree. "Ohhh, owie." He commented "ASH!!" Misty and Jeannette screamed together, Misty hurried along the dock, forgetting her injured leg, hoping to save him, a hopeless cause, but one she was going for. Jeannette stood frozen, her kimono was soaked, but she didn't notice, she stared at the whirlpool where Ash was desperately clinging to a rock, "Ash! No!" Jeannette yelled in horror at what she had caused "Misty! Jeannette! Don't try to be heroes! Save yourselves! You can only get killed if you try to help me!" Ash yelled as he tried to keep from drowning. Tears filled Jeannette's eyes as she thought "Ash is the one in danger, and he's telling us not to endanger ourselves, he's so...so noble, it's no wonder Misty feels about him the way she does" She looked helplessly around, Galatea was tearing the team apart, even Mewtwo was no match for her, Jeannette suddenly felt rage fill her "I trusted Galatea, and she used that to get close to my friends, how could I have been so stupid? Now Ash is going to die because of me!" Jeannette's entire body suddenly felt charged; startled she noticed green energy surging between her hands. "Wh-what is happening?" Jeannette thought, suddenly the energy formed into a ball. "This must be my power! I've got to use it!" Jeannette raised the Green Fireball, but Galatea's shields would block it for sure, noticing Jeannette's power, Bandit yelled: "Mewtwo! Give her everything you've got!" Mewtwo, not sure what was happening, but trusting Bandit, unloaded everything he had at Galatea, who was forced to reconfigure the length of her shield to provide more strength. Galatea had the shield up in front of her, but her flank was ungaurded. "That's the opening I need! Green Fireball!" Jeannette threw the attack, realizing a new attack was on it's way, Galatea tried to divert some power to block it, but too late, the fireball hit her in the chest, full power. Galatea screamed, she suspended in mid-air for a moment as the water drained back into the lake, then dropped to the grass and lay there.  
"Oh, no, no no no!" Jeannette cried, suddenly feeling remorse, she rushed to Galatea's side. "Jeannette, oh thank you! Thank you Jeannette!" Galatea was breathing heavily, but she was smiling. "Galatea, I'm sorry I had to do that, but-" Jeannette was cut off as Galatea spoke "Don't be, you've freed me! Orcus had me under his dark wing for 300 years! At long last I am myself again!"  
Jeannette felt tears stinging her eyes, she also felt Throttle's strong arm around her shoulders as she picked up Galatea's hand. "You were never evil, just under that beast's control!" "That's right, I'm sorry I had to deceive you, I really do like you, Jeannette, I'm glad we can part as friends." "Friends forever." Jeannette promised, the tears came, she saw some in Galatea's eyes as well. The Beyonder suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said. (Galatea, it is time.) Galatea smiled as the XIII Tattoo on her chest disappeared. "Jeannette, we will meet again, don't grieve me, I'll be alright, and the next time we meet we will be on the same side, farwell, my friend." The Beyonder waved his hand and Galatea disappeared. (Jeannette, you need not worry about Galatea, she is currently resting in the same dimension as Delia, Togepi, & Mew, and you WILL see her again, as long as you survive.) As the group stood up, the Beyonder continued: (Everytime you defeat a member of the Vile 13, I will automatically transport them to another dimension, one that only my Master and I can open, no one will die, they will merely be defeated, you people on the other hand, you must survive, because powers even higher then my Master will not allow interference on your behalf.) The Beyonder disappeared.  
  
For awhile, everyone kept their distance from Jeannette, who seemed to need some space alone. Finally Jeannette anounced she was ready to continue, so the group finished lunch and headed off along a route that Bandit found (He is a great tracker, after all). Eventually, Misty's leg got tired and Ash picked her up and carried her. "Fantastic! Now if only Misty was wearing a Shiromuka (Wedding Kimono) and Ash a tux, this would be perfect!" Throttle laughed. "THROTTLE!!" Ash & Misty said together. "Shutting up." Throttle said, noting Misty's mallet. "Bandit, where are we going?" Jeannette wanted to know. "Owie!" she added as a branch hit her in the face. "I don't know, all I know is there is something in this direction we need to find." Bandit replied, using his katana to hack some bigger branches, the others were just pushed back and kept snapping into everybody's faces. Ash took the most of Misty's branches (Isn't he a sweety?) and Gary took the most to the face. "HOLD IT!" Gary yelled, he pushed his way to the front of the group saying: "I am the smartest, most talented, best looking person here, so I have to go first!" He tripped, landing facedown in something everybody recognized, he climbed to his feet, saying: "There is either a Snorlax, or another large creature around here." Throttle grinned. "Jerk fall in poop, classical element of physical comedy, now comes the part where we throw our heads back and laugh, ready?" "Ready!" Brock & Tracey said together: "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Gary spit something out and said "I don't know what that was, but it was nowhere near properly digested, in case anyone's wondering, I'm okay."  
  
Writer's Note: What Throttle just said was the edited version of he wanted to say, but as there was a 10 year old (Casey) and a 12 year old (Ash) present, he decided to watch his langauge.  
  
"Hey guys, Look!" Ash said, he pointed at something in the distance, which was difficult because he was still carrying Misty newlywed style. Everyone looked, there was a building in the distance. Everyone headed toward it, the building turned out to be a power plant of sorts. Inside was like the Mako Reactor from FF7. As soon as the last person was inside, the door slammed shut. "I guess somebody wants us to stay." Throttle joked nerviously. Everyone ignored him and they continued, the inside was a sight to behold, generators everywhere. Electricity flowing like crazy, but that wasn't the only thing flowing, something was lurking in the shadows. "I am not going to hide, I am going to make you wish you were never born!!!" A voice bellowed, the figure stepped from the shadows, the figure stood only 6 feet tall, but had a long tail resembling that of a Raichu, his entire body was jet black, except for the area from his knees to his toes, which was yellow. The area from his wrist to his knuckles was also yellow, his fingertips were black, his head looked like an army helmet/mask, although the faceplate was tan colored, while the top was black. He also had a yellow Thunderbolt on his chest, on the Thunderbolt was the symbol XIII  
  
"Who or what is that?" Casey wondered, speaking for everyone. In responese, Bandit stepped forward, pulling out Hoshi, the figure began charging what looked like a Thunderbolt. For good measure, Mewtwo summoned a shield around them all, Hoshi began glowing and Bandit recieved and announced the information they needed:  
  
(Picture of Stormlord pops up in middle of screen)  
(Following information pops up on left side of screen)  
Name: Stormlord  
Age: 1,000  
Main Power: Control of Electric Currents  
Main Attack: Superbolt  
Secondary Attack: Stretch Lightning  
(Following pops up on bottom of screen)  
Information: Stormlord is a walking electric dynamo, he gets a charge out of shocking his advesaries with electric currents from even within themselves. He posseses enough electrical energy to power the entire world for a year at one time. He is also extremely bad tempered and tends to detonate at times, he is said to have an explosive attack that rivals the explosion of a nuclear bomb.  
  
"Aw man, we just delt with a member of the Vile 13, why do we gotta face another?" complained Throttle. Stormlord grinned "Yes, Galatea was a weakling, and because she is not evil, she could not possibly remain loyal, she actually allowed her powers to drain, she could have fought, but she chose to be defeated and freed from our master's service, she is a traitor and I would kill her if I could get to her, I won't bother using my minions on you, I'll kill you myself!!!! Superbolt!!" The attack ripped through the air, but was deflected by Mewtwo's shield, but unfortunatly, the shield shattered and Mewtwo staggered. (What a jolt! He shattered my shield with one-AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!) Mewtwo "yelled" in pain as he was thrown across the room, without a shield to protect them, the rest of the team was vulnerable. Being the seasoned warrior he was, Bandit was fully aware of this. "Everyone scatter! Jeannette, with me!" Jeannette realized what Bandit wanted and, with some concentration, managed to launch another Green Fireball, which Stormlord simply ducked. "Gotta work on yer aim!!" He laughed evily, Bandit charged, but was knocked aside by the Stretch Lightning, which also sought out Ash, knocking him to the ground as well. Mewtwo struggled to his feet and unleashed a weak Psychic blast, which Stormlord blocked by throwing up a shield. Mewtwo grabbed onto Stormlord with his telekenesis, and Stormlord had to drop his powers to fight against it, leaving him open to another Green Fireball from Jeannette. Stormlord grunted in annoyance as he pushed away Mewtwo's telekenesis, he then threw a Superbolt at Jeannette, which was intercepted by Pikachu, who used his tail as a conducter. Unfortunatly, this weakened Pikachu to the point where he collapsed, Jeannette snatched him up and tried to duck out of harms way. Ash and the others were staying out of the way, knowing they'd only make things harder for Bandit, Mewtwo, & Jeannette, but one of Stormlord's Stretch Lightning attacks blew open Gary's hiding place, stunning him and leaving him vulnerable.  
Ash darted out of his hiding place, ignoring Misty's cry of: "Don't, Ash!" grabbed Gary, and pulled him to cover, unfortunatly, Ash's noble and selfless deed left him open to a Superbolt, even Ash's immunity to electric attacks didn't hold up as he was thrown across the room and into the wall. Ash slammed into the wall and fell to the ground, unconscious. "ASH!!!!" Misty yelled, forgetting her own danger, Misty charged across the room to get to the one who mattered to her more than anything else in the world, Misty was grazed by several Stretch Lightning blasts, but no direct hits. Mewtwo tried to buy time for his human comrades by throwing up a Barrier, Bandit tried using his kitana as a lightning rod to distract Stormlord, but to no avail, Jeannette threw a Green Fireball which was knocked away, along with Jeannette, by a Superbolt that shattered Mewtwo's shield and knocked HIM unconscious. "We gotta do something!" Casey yelled, but Throttle held her back, saying. "If we interfere, we'll only make things more difficult, although..." Throttle suddenly stopped holding back on his langauge as he called Stormlord several names that he didn't like, Stormlord turned and blasted another Superbolt at Throttle, who was already ducking back behind the wall, a huge indentation was left in the wall as a result.  
  
Misty finally reached Ash's side, she grabbed him and shook him, trying to wake him up, her concern getting in the way of her good judgement. "Misty! Pull him to safety!" Bandit yelled over the roar of electricity, reacting properly this time, Misty tried to pull Ash where he would be safe, a direct hit from Stretch Lightning stunned her, she fell ontop of Ash, the force of her landing waking him up. "Misty...get out of here...save yourself..." Ash gasped, once again thinking about everybody but himself. "No Ash, I won't abandon you...how could anybody abandon you...you sacrifice nobody but yourself..." Misty whispered as she fought to stay conscious, seeing the only girl he could have feelings for in direct danger gave Ash the strength he needed to sit up (Very noisily) as he tried to save her. Gary, lying there, stared at them in amazement. "Man, Ash risked his life to save me, and even after the way I've treated him! I gotta do something!" Gary tried to scramble over to Ash & Misty, for once his only thought was helping his comrades, but another Stretch Lightning knocked him aside, feeling desperate, he yelled: "Eat this, Bolt Breath! Black Lightning!" He threw his hand at Stormlord, as though he was attacking with a power, hoping it would distract him. To Gary's surprise, he felt something running through his body, and saw a jolt of black lightning shoot out at Stormlord, who having thought it was a bluff, tried to throw up a shield, but not in time. Stormlord howled in pain as his body was riddled with some kind of electricity / anti-electricity.  
"Pour on more juice!!" Gary hollered, grabbing his hand with the other, those who heard him wondered what he was talking about until they realized he was talking to himself. His power drained, Stormlord dropped to the ground, gasping: "Too late, hero, I've activated the Self-Detination sequence! AHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!" He disappeared. "Everybody, MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!!" Bandit yelled as he picked up the unconscious Mewtwo and slung him across his shoulders. Throttle ran over and picked up Ash, allowing Misty to move faster, especially since she was trying to keep up with Throttle to stay with Ash, they ran toward the front door  
  
"10" 100 feet away "9" 90 feet away "8" 80 feet away "7" 70 feet away "6" 60 feet away "4" 50 feet away "HEY! What happened to 5!?!?" Gary demanded "3" 40 feet away "2" 30 feet away "1" 20 feet away "Have a nice day!" 10 feet away, everybody had a moment to wonder why the computer had just wished them a nice day, before they were all blown to Kingdom Come  
  
KAAAAAAAABBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
This chapter ends here, how did ya like it? Do you want to know what happens next? Read & Rate!! 


	5. As the journey continues...

Chapter 5  
  
Ash Ketchum stirred, then groaned, his head hurt like crazy, heck, his whole body ached. 1st Thought: "Misty?" 2nd Thought: "Pikachu?" 3rd Thought: "Bandit?" 4th Thought: "I'm alive?" Ash struggled to his feet, he still hurt, but he was cold as well, it was snowing and he was alone.  
  
Misty shivered as she fought her way through the snow. "Aaaash!" She called, "Ash? Bandit? Pikachu?" No answer "Ash? Jeannette? Throttle?" "I was wondering when you'd get to me!" came Throttle's voice. He was barechested as usual, and his jacket had no sleeves, Misty had a moment to wonder why he wasn't shivering. "C'mon! I know where to find the others!" "Others? Does that include Ash?" Misty asked hopefully, Throttle paused, then said. "Bandit's looking for him now, c'mon with me." "Not without Ash!" Misty said firmly, Throttle picked her up, stating. "You will do Ash no good freezing to death, no arguments!" Back at the cave the others had found, Misty found that everyone seemed okay except for Mewtwo, who was lying next to the fire, unconscious. "Jeannette knows, ask her." Throttle said when Misty looked to him for an answer. Jeannette explained as Misty sat on Mewtwo's left side, across from Jeannette.  
  
The cold was getting to Ash, tough as he was. As he picked his way through the snow, he thought he heard a voice calling his name: "Ash! Ash-man, where are you?" Bandit, who else would call him "Ash-man"? "Bandit! Over here!" Ash tried to yell, but his voice caught, desperate, he glanced around through the wall of snow, spotting a black cloaked figure, he picked up a stone and hurled it, hopng to catch the figure's attention. "Ow!" Ash heard the familiar *Shing* of a katana being unsheathed as the figure called out "Who's there!? Show yourself!" Ash scrambled toward the figure and it's face became clearer. "Ash!" Bandit cried, rushing forward and resheathing his katana. Ash fell forward and would have gotten a faceful of snow had Bandit's strong arms not caught him. Ash relaxed in the brotherly embrace as Bandit carried his weakened friend to safety.  
  
Misty heard footsteps, she looked up hopefully. Bandit walked in, carrying Ash, who looked nearly unconscious. "Ash!" Misty called, jumping up. "Misty, you're okay." Ash said happily as Bandit set him next to Misty near the fire. "I'm fine, Ash, what about you?" "I'll live, hey, what happened to Mewtwo?" Misty shook her head. "Jeannette told me he came to in time to throw up a force field around us, which is why we're alive, but doesn't explain where we are or how we survived landing here." Jeannette spoke up. "Bandit has a theory." was all she said. "I'd like to wait until Mewtwo wakes up." Bandit said. Mewtwo groaned and opened his eyes. Misty smiled, relieved that the superpowered Pokemon who had become her friend was alright, she knew Ash would be relieved as well.  
  
"Okay, Bandit," Gary said, "Now that Mewtwo is awake, maybe you'd like to explain what happened." Bandit grinned. "Only Jeannette, Gary, and myself saw it, but Gary still doesn't know, it's like this, just as we were going to be blown to Kingdom Come, Mewtwo woke up, and, realizing we were gonna die in an explosion, threw up a shield around us. The explosion was mostly absorbed by Mewtwo's force field, and the strain knocked him back out, and we all flew to wherever we are now."  
Ash nodded. "Okay, so how could that explosion throw us all to Midagascar or something without killing us?" "Madagascar?" Gary asked. "It couldn't" Bandit said simply, "Great, so how did we survive?" Ash wondered. "We went through time." Bandit said. "Huh?" Everyone demanded. "That explosion somehow was so great that it ripped open the fabric of time and space and we were transported here, or should I say, here and now." Casey shook her head. "Where are we, and when are we?" Bandit shrugged. "I don't know, probably not more than two hours." "Hold on there, smarty, how do you know we went through time?" Gary demanded. "When we went inside the power plant, it was about 1:00, according to the sun, right now it's about 11:00, on the same day. I know this because I stayed conscious through the explosion, and I first noticed the sun was further back than it should be, besides, I overheard a pair of wolf-creatures saying something about how Galatea had just been defeated, and how Stormlord would kill the ones who did it, and I noticed the power plant is right at the foot of these mountains, and is still there."  
Misty thought for a moment and asked: "So how do we get back to our own time?" Bandit smirked "That's the fun part, we have to recreate the explosion, or at least be there when it goes off, this should undo this time-warp we accidently created." "And if we don't?" Ash was afraid to ask, and was grateful that Tracey had. Bandit grinned, although there was no mirth in that smile. "If we don't, when the Time Warp occurs, there will be two of each of us in Normal time, a space-time impossibility, we will all cease to exist, as we are wiped out by time itself!" Everyone agreed to change the subject as they attempted to warm up. Misty snuggled up to Ash, everyone noticed. As well as Jeannette snuggling up to Throttle. Ash: "Ya know, this reminds me of my fortune a few days ago, it said: "You are about to embark on an incredible journey." "Pika, Pi pi pi, kachupi, Pikachu!" Pikachu added, Ash translated: "Pikachu says he wishes he had some ketchup, like his fortune said, he can't get any." Brock and Misty were thinking about their own fortunes, but neither spoke. "Should I tell Ash...how...I feel about him? His and Pikachu's fortunes have already come true, and so has Bandit's! But what if he rejects me? I couldn't take that! Maybe, maybe he feels...the same?" Misty's thought trailed off just in time to hear Ash say: "It's like those fortunes were meant for us, wattya think, Bandit?" Bandit shook his head and replied: "I'm saying nothing until Misty does." Everyone looked at Misty, who was already pretending to be asleep. "Woa! Misty wake up! We can't be going to sleep, we're all gonna be destroyed in about 2 hours!" Gary frowned as his rival. "You're doing wonders for our moral, Ash." Ash grinned. "Always here for ya guys!" Everyone struggled to their feet and headed through the snow.  
  
30 minutes later...  
  
Misty collapsed on the snowy ground, shivering, she was trying to hide it, but she felt like passing out from the cold, as she continued to shiver, she noticed someone standing over her, it was Ash, and he was draping his jacket around her shoulders in an effort to keep her warm "Here, Misty" Ash said kindly, Misty gave him a weak smile and said "Thanks, Ash, but what about you?" Ash gave his usual tough grin "I'm fine, you take my jacket, I won't need it" In fact, Ash felt like passing out from the cold himself, but he would never admit to suffering in front of Misty, he was trying to be strong for her. "A-hooooooooo!!" a howl sounded in the distance, "A-hooooooooooo!!" Closer. "Wh-what's that!?" Cried Misty, typically grabbing onto Ash while Jeannette grabbed onto Throttle. "Wolves, it sounds like. Everbody just stay calm and don't panic." Bandit said calmly. "A-HOOOOOOO!!" Suddenly, the howls were right near them, they saw red eyes glaring out at them. "Okay, forget calm, PANIC!! RUN!!"" Bandit yelled, everyone took off as fast as they could go, unfortunatly, they had only run about 50 feet through the snow when they were surounded by about 6 wolves. Everyone looked around nerviously as the wolves growled angrily, one of them a black wolf larger than the others, stepped forward. "Black Lightning!" Gary yelled, his attack streaked through the air, but his intended target easily dodged it. "Green Fireball!" Called Jeannette as she unleashed her own attack. To everyone's surprise, the wolf said: "Energy Freeze!" and a stream of ice shot out of his mouth and froze Jeannette's attack, it shattered. "Surrender now, and you will be spared!" The wolf in question said. "I am Captain Blackheart, leader of the Blizzard Wolves!" "Blizzard Wolves?" Everyone said as one. "Yes, allow me to demonstrate my abilities! Blaze Gun!" Shards of ice flew from his mouth, Mewtwo threw up a shield to protect everyone, but not in time to protect Misty from a shard that sliced open her arm. "Misty!" Ash cried as he grabbed her wound. "I-I'm okay..." Misty said, but her face went white and she stumbled. Blackheart grinned. "Surrender! Your friend has been infected already by the Walking Plague! Only my master can cure such a disease!" Ash glared at him. "Walking Plague?" Bandit asked. "What is that?" Blackheart laughed, a sound that chilled everyone to the bone, as it was colder than the weather. "The Walking Plague is a fungus that can only grow in the cold, up here it grows very fast, what it does is eat away at bone marrow and red blood cells. If you want to save her, surrender and come with us!" "We surrender!" Bandit & Ash said together, everyone else looked surprised, but quickly understood, Misty's life hung in the balance.  
  
Bandit stepped as near Blackheart as he could before getting a snarl. "Blackheart." Bandit said, touching the Hoshi hidden under his shirt. "CAPTAIN Blackheart to you!" the wolf creature snarled. Getting nothing from Hoshi, Bandit decided. "Hoshi isn't responding, I guess he isn't a member of the Vile 13, or Vile 11 now, or 12 if you count the whole time shift thing...maybe their master is..." He allowed the unspoken thought to trail off as Ash picked up Misty and walked beside him behind Blackheart. (Everyone.) came Mewtwo's telepathic voice, everyone jerked but didn't speak. (I have opened a telepathic link between us all, just think and they won't know what we are planning.) Bandit thought up first. "Everyone, we have to go along with this for now, we have to get Misty warm as soon as possible, Blackheart said the walking plague only grows in the cold, heat should kill it, and I believe their master is the next member of the Vile 13, because Blackheart is not." "I hope you're right, Bandit, for Mist's sake." "I love it when he calls me Mist..." came Misty's barely conscious thought. Everyone jerked, but no one responded, although Casey & Duplica couldn't help but frown in jealousy at how much Ash cared for Misty. "Hey!" thought Gary "Why doesn't Ash just summon Charizard to burn that fungus away?" Bandit replied, "sounding" exasperated. "If any one of us pulls a Pokemon, these guys will tear us to shreds, as long as we cooperate, we have a chance, trust me on this, I know what I'm doing."  
"I hope so." Everyone thought, simultaneously. The walk only took about 10 minutes, as they entered a cave, everyone couldn't help but get chilled (Sorry! ^_^) as they saw the woman on the throne, she was about 6 feet tall, and, um, physically mature, no one was surprised when Brock started panting, a snarl from Blackheart shut him up. The woman's skin was bright blue, as were her eyes, her dress, which resembled Rosella's from King's Quest 7, was snow-white, although the cuffs were blue. She was holding a staff that looked not unlike a stalacite, and her hair was a snowy gray. Another thing about her was that she had the XII mark on her forhead. The woman glared down on them all, and her glare hardened when Hoshi began glowing, Bandit check Hoshi and repeated the following information:  
  
(Picture of Icebella pops up in middle of screen)  
(Following information pops up on left side of screen)  
Name: Icebella  
Age: 5,000  
Main Power: Control of Cold  
Main Attack: Frozen Breath  
Secondary Attack: Ice Blades  
(Following pops up on bottom of screen)  
Information: Icebella is the Ice Queen, her heart is a chunk of solid ice, she is pure evil and uses the cold of her realm to discourage intruders  
  
"I knew it! She's a member of the Vile 13!" Bandit yelled, Jeannette and Gary stepped forward to attack, but Icebella threw up and Ice Shield that blocked both attacks. Blackheart snarled and started forward, but paused when Icebella called: "Wait! My pets!" she glared at them and said: "I will deal with these IMPUTENT humans myself! Follow me!" she walked out of the room, and Ash and Co. followed. The battle did not start good for the protagonists, Icebella started by calling up an Icy breeze that knocked everyone from their feet, Mewtwo tried to grab her using telekenesis, but the power behind her ice shield prevented that, Jeannette tried to break it with her Green Fireball but to no avail, Gary joined in with his Black Lightning, but again there waas no success. "Charizard! I choose you!" Bandit & Ash cried together. "Charizard, Flamethrower now!" They called together, Icebella's shield began to melt, but she simply refroze it, they were getting nowhere, and strong as they were, both Charizards were begining to weaken (Flying types being weak against cold.) They both set down for a rest as Bandit pulled his katana, Shadowblade, and charged. "Ice Blades!" Icebella called, sending out a barrage of razor sharp ice shards that might have ended Bandit's life, only his strength, speed, skill, and reflexes born of the Martial Arts saved him, he blocked every shard and continued to attack, but was thwarted by Icebella's shield of ice. Both Charizard's tried to burn down the shield, and Bandit hacked at it, Icebella glared at the two fire dragons and yelled: "Frozen Breath!" Both Charizard's managed to melt part of the attack, but were frozen from the neck down. "Ice Blades!" Icebella yelled, Mewtwo was sliced in several places, including his jugular. Mewtwo cried, healing half his injuries, he tried throwing up a Barrier, but was hit by more shards of Ice. Mewtwo collapsed and tried to heal his wounds as the white snow turned red, taking advantage of the destraction, Gary and Jeannette double teamed Icebella, both attacks landed, but they were swept off their feet by another powerful blast of wind. Ash then did something very brave and very stupid, he simply charged straight at Icebella, he ducked under her Ice Blades, and slammed into the shield, he fell down and lay there, stunned. "A-Ash?" Misty whispered, as she watched the battle, unable to take part because of the Walking Plague. Bandit now made it past the shield, he swung at Icebella, but she froze his hands and forearms, hampering his swing, he was then knocked off his feet from a casual flick from Icebella's arm. Seeing a friend in danger, Ash once again forgot about his own safety and attacked, irritated, Icebella simply froze him solid, from head to toe.  
"Ash! Oh, man! He'll suffocate!" Gary cried, throwing a Black Lightning at Icebella, trying not to hit Ash in the process. "Crap! Charizard! Burn him free!" Bandit yelled as he broke the ice around his arms. Neither Charizard was able to. Suddenly everyone heard a scream. "AAAAAAASSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" It was Misty, she jumped to her feet and charged toward Ash, unfortunatly, Icebella was in the way. "Frozen Breath!" Icebella launched the attack, but Misty's arms glowed red and she responded: "Fire Drill!" and a twisting swirl of flame shot from her arms and engulfed the frozen steam, as well as Icebella, who screamed and disappeared, defeated. Misty didn't notice, however, as she was rushing over to Ash. Seeing their master defeated, Blackheart and the Blizzard Wolves attacked, but between Bandit & Throttle's fighting skills, Jeannette & Gary's Powers, and Mewtwo's Telekenesis, the wolves were easily defeated, Bandit personally defeated Blackheart himself. Misty was now melting the ice that surrounded her best friend, her love, her Ash...  
  
Ash, now free of the ice, dropped to the ground, unconscious, or...no...Misty wouldn't allow herself to think that, she dropped to her knees beside Ash and began performing CPR, those who knew the truth about Misty's feelings (Everyone) couldn't help but think it was so cute, although Duplica & Casey were jealous of Misty. As Misty continued her efforts, Casey pulled out the Pokeball for Ash's Charizard and recalled him, Bandit did likewise for his own. "Please Ash, please, you can't leave me..." Misty pleaded as her tears froze in the cold. Suddenly, the color returned to Ash's face and he was breathing again. Bandit carried their sickened comrade back to the castle, which shielded them from the wind, they started a fire and placed Ash next to it, Misty, of course, sat next to Ash. As did Casey & Duplica. Bandit checked Misty's arm and found that the Walking Plague was gone. "Just like I thought, heat did the trick! Misty, that fire you produced saved your life!" Misty looked surprised. "Fire? What fire?" Bandit sighed and explained how Misty had been infected with the Walking Plague and how it died from heat, and about the fire Misty had shot to defeat Icebella and save Ash, she looked surprised. "We have about and hour and 20 minutes before we all die." Bandit added grimly. Ash finally woke up, and was fed the details as Misty huggled him practically to death. The group took off again and found where they could go down the mountains to the power plant where they needed to be. "How are we gonna det down there?" Richie asked aloud, everyone else was wondering the same, except for Bandit, who had a plan as usual, using Mewtwo's Telekenesis, his and Throttle's strength, and everyone pitching in, they were able to make a sleigh/sled in about an hour. The group huddled in, and it was Todd who asked the dreaded question. "How long?" Bandit closed his eyes and responded: "About half an hour, there is no room for error here, as it'll take us about 5 minutes to get down the mountain, leaving me with 25 minutes to come up with a plan and for us to execute it." Everyone fell silent, except for Gary, who, as usual, just had to criticize: "Glad to have ya in charge, we're all doomed." The ride took 5 minutes, as expected. Everyone screamed their heads off, heh-heh, and landed with a crash, the group hurried to the Power Plant and there Bandit paused, he was trying to figure out a plan. Time was running out, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes... "Everyone! Inside!" Bandit yelled, everyone charged inside and hid behind some boxes. They waited until they heard their past selves rushing for the exit, with only 10 seconds remaining, Bandit spoke. "Mewtwo, teleport them all outside, and make sure you are in here! No shield!" Mewtwo responded by teleporting into the past selves, teleporting them all outside, and then teleporting inside. "6...4..." said the computer. "Now we see if I'm right..." Bandit said grimly. "3...2...1...Have a nice day!"  
  
KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!!!!  
  
Everyone blinked, they were outside, staring at the ruins that was the Power Plant, they looked to Bandit for an explanation, and he said, grinning. "We all died in there, so there was only one of each of us when the rip ended, we were dead, but since there was another body for each of us, or minds snapped into our other bodies, so we lived!" Ash blinked. "That sure is confusing, Bandit..." He said, Bandit shrugged. "Quantum physics, go figure." "So, we are no longer pressed for time?" Brock asked. "Nope!" Bandit replied "Lets get going, gang!" This was greeted by groans from everyone else. "Rumble rumble" Misty sighed, "Ash, get your stomach to shut up, please!" Ash looked nervious "Ummm, Misty? That's not my stomach!" "Huh!?!?" "RumBLE RuMBLE RUMBLE!!" Everyone looked up as the avalanche stormed toward them. "MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!!" Bandit yelled, unfortunatly, they weren't fast enough, but Mewtwo did manage to throw up a telekenetic force field that caused a "Room" within the snow.  
  
Weakened by the effort, Mewtwo lay down to rest, otherwise he could have teleported them all out, Misty suggested she burn their way out, but Bandit pointed out that could cause the whole thing to collapse, so instead she focused her energies into a low tunnel, she would stop occasionally so Ash & Throttle could pack up the melting snow to form a wall, meanwhile Bandit sat down to think: "Jeannette got her powers when she realized how much danger Ash was in and she felt a need to save him. Gary felt the need to help his friends instead of himself, when Misty cut loose just recently, it was because Ash was going to die, and she "Needs" him, hmmm, Beyonder did say the power arises to a need, not a desire...Interesting." Bandit repeated these thoughts aloud for everyone, although he modified Misty's "Needing" Ash, even Ash would have understood, and now was not the time to be embarrasing the two.  
Finally, Misty made it through the last bit of snow and everyone exited. No one wanted to keep moving, but Bandit insisted. A walk through the forest and across a small cliff didn't lighten anyone's spirits. The sight of the mansion did, it was a 4 story house, and looked very comfortable. It had the name "Powerhouse" "Wait, everyone, Mewtwo and I will check it out." Said Bandit, everyone grumbled but no one argued, knowing that Bandit knew best about this kind of thing. Several minutes later, Bandit & Mewtwo stepped outside, reporting it was all clear, a quick exploration revealed a dining room with a table filled with food. Pizza, chicken, fruit, steamed veggies, soda, cookies, cakes, chips, and so on. "Wonder who's having the feast?" Ash wondered, he was staring at the food with longing and desire, a way Misty wished Ash would look at HER.  
Gary darted forward and snatched up a chicken leg saying: "Yum yummy, don't mind if I do!" "Go ahead, Gary!" Jeannette said, picking up a piece of pizza. "Yeah, don't hold back on our account!" added Throttle, opening a can of Mountain Dew. Gary sweatdropped. "There I go again, being greedy, I gotta stop this or I'm gonna be a liability to my friends." he thought, by now everyone was grabbing something except for Ash who said loudly: "HOLD it!" Everyone paused as Ash picked up a piece of pizza and bit into it, he chewed, then swallowed, after a moment he lightly punched his stomache. He then picked up a jug of water and poured it into a glass and drank it, after a couple of seconds he grinned and said: "It's safe! Dig in, everyone!" Misty sighed, thinking: "There he goes again, risking himself for others, I can't believe I didn't consider someone might be poisoning us, he's always looking out for those he cares about." Everyone dug into the food with flourish and bad table manners, even Bandit, who always had more dignity than that was pigging out.  
"Ahhh...." Everyone let out a sigh of satisfaction. With full bellies, everyone decided to see what else the unnocupied mansion offered them: Washing & Drying Machines, baths, bathrobes, (1 pink, 1 purple, 2 yellow, 6 blue, 1 green, 2 jet-black) and 2 bedrooms that looked to have been designed for this particular group, one with 4 feminine beds, the other with 9 masculine beds. Everyone dumped their clothes in the washer and headed for the baths. The baths went intersting, to say the least...  
  
Gary: "Hey! Watch the hair, dude!"  
Ash: "Is that hair? I thought it was a Sandslash having a bad-quill day!"  
Mewtwo: (I just love this shampoo! My fur was sticking to me so badly, I thought I was in a slime pit!)  
(Tracey & Brock get into a splash war, which gets everyone going, laughing and giggling like a bunch of 4 year olds)  
  
(On the girls side)  
  
Misty: "Boys."  
Duplica: "They are so immature! Can't they just soak, relax, and get clean like girls do?"  
Casey: "They're boys, and boys will be boys..."  
Throttle: "Yes, we will!"  
(All 4 girls go beat red)  
Jeannette: "THROTTLE! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN HERE!!!!"  
Misty: "GET BACK ON THE BOY'S SIDE!!!!" (Mallets him)  
Throttle: "Woooaaaaaa!!!!" (Sails over wall into boys tub)  
  
Unidentified boy: "What the!?!?"  
Different boy: "Where did YOU come from?"  
Another boy: "And why do you smell like feminine products?"  
  
After the bath, everyone got into their robes, Ash wore green, Misty wore pink, Bandit & Mewtwo wore black, Jeannette wore purple, Casey & Duplica wore yellow, everyone else wore blue.  
Bandit saw a notice and read it. "Hey everyone, at 9:00, there is something called "The Powerhouse Power Hour." I think we should check it out!" Everyone agreed. They hung around the house until 8:50, where they found tables laden with snacks waiting for them. "I wonder what the Power Hour is?" Ash wondered through a mouthful of Doritos, everyone was still clad in their bathrobes, as they found them to be very comfortable, Ash & Misty kept glancing at each other, as did Throttle & Jeannette, Brock, of course, started drooling over all 4 girls until a roundhouse from Bandit shut him up. Misty downed a bowful of pretzels and gulped about half a gallon of water, she headed for the little trainer's room and made it just before 9:00. At 9:00 on the dot, the entire room lit up, bizarre music started playing and a voice called: "WELCOME! To the Powerhouse Power Hour! Here is Your host, Powerhouse!" Powerhouse, if that was his name, looked like a 2-armed Machamp, only with purple fur and green eyes. "Hey everyone! Are you ready to have some fun!?!?" Powerhouse called, everyone responded: "YEAH!!!!" Powerhouse grinned and said: "Well, this is gonna be a lot of fun, for ME that is!! Swirling Beam!" A black beam, similiar to Biyomon's Spiral Twiser attack, snaked out into the crowd, everyone scattered. "HEY!! That wasn't funny!" Yelled a very indignant Duplica, "What is going on? Why would he think that's entertaining?" Richie wondered, talking mostly to himself, it was then everyone noticed the now familar XIII on Powerhouse's forhead. Bandit charged forward, reaching for Shadowblade, then remembered he had left his katana in his room.   
"Dangit! Of all the times to be without my blade!" Bandit said, then gasped in surprise as there were suddenly 6 Powerhouses spread throughout the room, each one had a strange box in hand. "Everything here is just an illusion! Nothing is real except the danger!" Powerhouse laughed, "Which one to attack?" Gary wondered, glancing around the room. "That's the question isn't it? Which is real and which is the Lord of Illusions? Your senses are easily fooled!" Jeannette's eyes flickered toward one of the images. "Hey! He's right over there! Green Fireball!" The attack simply passed through the illusion. "What!? Oh man, it's just his hocus-pocus!" she gasped. Powerhouse laughed. "If you can find me, it might save youre lives, then again, Swirling Beam!" 6 beams shot from all corners of the room, everyone dodged as many as they could, knowing most were not real, but too wise to take chances. "HAHAHAHAHAH!!! DIE HUMANS! DIE POKEMON! I'LL CARRY YOUR BODIES TO ORCUS MYSELF!!!!" Powerhouse laughed, Bandit's ears   
twitched and he dashed toward a Powerhouse standing on a nearby table yelling: "You blew it man, I've found you out! Hi-Keeba!" He jumped up and kicked the device, shattering it. The other 5 Powerhouses disappeared, along with the entire house, revealing the tables as rocks and the chairs as logs and stumps. Powerhouse grinned. "So you did, how shall I reward you, I know! Power Punch!" The attack sent Bandit flying through the air, but not before Bandit recieved the following information:  
  
(Picture of Powerhouse pops up in middle of screen)  
(Following information pops up on left side of screen)  
Name: Powerhouse  
Age: 6,000  
Main Power: Super strength and speed  
Main Attack: Power Punch  
Secondary Attack: Swirling Beam  
(Following pops up on bottom of screen)  
Information: Powerhouse is the only true warrior among the Vile 13, he is a master at several forms of the martial arts and also posseses an energy attack, his Power Punch sends an opponent flying like a tennis ball.  
  
"Tell me something I don't know, YAAAAHHooooohhhhh......." Bandit smashed through a tree, only his immense physical strength kept him alive.  
  
"Green Fireball!" Jeannette launched her attack, which Powerhouse simply shattered, Gary tried as well but his attack was dodged. Misty tried to add her power to the assult, but soon found herself under siege from boulders as she attempted to conceal herself. Mewtwo tried grabbing onto Powerhouse with telekenesis, but had to dodge a tree aimed at his head, a kick to the neck put him out of the fight. Misty poured on her Fire Drill, but Powerhouse blasted it apart, knocking Misty to the ground, naturally, Ash wasn't about to let Misty die, he dragged her to safety as Jeannette & Gary continued their assult, Throttle joined in using rocks, but nobody was having much luck  
  
Bandit groaned as he climbed to his feet, his head was ringing, he felt like answering it, but saw his comrades were suffering a losing battle, he concentrated on his thoughts: "We have to win, or our world and all the people in it will die, Casey, Aeris, Delia, Yamato, Spectre...We have to win! This isn't for us! This is for billions of lives! No matter what, this is a fight we cannot lose! I don't care if the other members of the Vile 13 are a million times stronger than all of us! We will not lose! So get ready Powerhouse, here I come!" Powered by his own determination, Bandit charged and went into a punch/block/kick/block type fight with Powerhouse, Powerhouse was winning, but Bandit could feel new energy surging through his veins. Bandit stepped back and stuck out one hand, the right one, anouncing: "Hyper-Beam!" The beam, similar to the Pokemon attack, but obviously much more powerful, shot directly at Powerhouse's head, he held up both hands to block it. Misty climbed to her feet, with Ash holding her arm and guiding her aim. "Fire Drill!" Misty concentrated and kept the attack focused, Powerhouse had to divert one arm to block Misty's attack, leaving one arm to block Bandit's attack, Bandit then siezed his right hand with his left, pouring more juice into the attack. "NOOOOOOooooooooo........." Powerhouse's energy depleted under the steady stream of unblocked power, he disppeared.  
  
Everyone stood up and took stock of themselves, they were all covered with cuts and bruises, but everyone was alive.  
  
Ash: "Well, that was exciting."  
Misty: "Yes, it was."  
Ash: "Let's never, EVER do it again."  
Misty: "Ever."  
  
Brock: "Now what?"  
Bandit: "Let's get our clothes on and get the heck out of here, we have a long way to go."  
  
Everyone: (Groans, sweatdrops and falls down Anime Style)  
  
Whew! And thus ends the troublesome Chapter 5! At long last! Time for me to write the incredibly Pokeshippy Chapter 6! Tell me what you thought of this! Oh, and I'm currently in writer's block (The bane of humanity!) for that chapter, so please be patient! 


End file.
